Sterling

In the summer of 2014, I returned home for the Fourth of July. At that time, my Uncle Ron, still battling cancer, had been told his time was limited. The disease had taken much, but not his strength. Before I left back for China, we gathered at his and my aunt’s home. As I prepared to leave, he took me aside and said, “This will not be our goodbye, but a ‘see you again.’ Do not return for my funeral, remember me as I am today, and take care of Nate.” Though they never met, Nate and my uncle formed a bond through late-night chats online. When my uncle passed that October, it felt as though a steady hand had been removed, leaving a void no one could fill.

Years later, while blending fragrances for Andante Home, I blended a fragrance that I knew too well. It was as though the very essence of that summer day with my uncle and family had returned. The blend of white birch, hemp, and vetiver carried the fragrance of the warm summer air, mingling with the smell of the fire pit and my uncle’s cologne. It was unmistakable.

When we launched in the United States, we named it *Sterling*, after my uncle’s middle name. Although he is gone, his memory lives on, not only in our hearts, but in the quiet presence of a fragrance that reminds us of a hug.