Some days it is more difficult than others to find joy when you are a caregiver for a loved one who has dementia.  On those days, I spray on Joy.  The perfume, Joy, has long been my signature scent.  Of course, I am talking about the original perfume as created by Jean Patou in 1929.  

Apparently there is a new perfume also named Joy created by Dior in 2018 and advertised by Jennifer Lawrence.  I have not yet sniffed the new perfume and probably won’t.  My ritual of using the original Joy perfume to boost my spirits is too significant to me these days to adulterate the emotion or the scent of the real thing with an upstart.

I have nothing against Dior, though I do think they could have found another name for their new scent.  Also, I don’t want to underrate Jennifer Lawrence, an actress whose performances I have admired.  Nevertheless, I don’t think a young woman of Jennifer Lawrence’s age (28) could understand the ritual of a caregiver using a perfume as a support mechanism.  

There may be some 28-year-old full-time caregivers for people with dementia out there.  If so, I would like to hear their stories and understand how they face the issues of caducity at such a young age.  My younger self would not have had the patience or awareness to do so.  I struggle with caregiving now at a much riper age.