Studies have shown that scents can elicit some of our most powerful memories, and everyone has their own "personal scent" that you associate with them. Fresh baked cookies might remind you of baking with your mother as a child, newly cut grass is your father after he's mowed the yard, and fresh cut flowers are your grandmother making an arrangement from her garden for the family table.

For my grandmother, it was even more specific. She was roses. Every time I went to visit her house, I would think I was entering a florist shop! There were always at least two vases full of roses somewhere in her house, and often even more than that.

When she passed away, I was unable to make the funeral to say my final goodbyes. This put me under a great deal of emotional stress. I found myself panicking because I could not clearly remember every detail of her face. I felt that that was the least I should do, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't.

Feeling depressed and guilty, I dug out the lone rose scented candle I had. I recalled that it was a gift she'd sent me for some past birthday years ago that I'd never gotten around to using, and I felt another pang of guilt.

I lit the candle and closed my eyes, still frantically trying to visualize her face. I was dismayed to realize that I could still do little more than imagine a hazy and vague general outline.

I decided to at least devote some time of quiet remembrance to her. I began recalling all I could about her. That her favorite color was blue. How she used to tell me bedtime stories when I came to visit. The way she was so patient with me when I tried "helping" her in her garden.

By now, the rose scent was filling my small room. Then it happened. There was her smiling face, crystal clear in my minds eye. I realized that in the short period of time I'd spent quiet and alone, I'd started to feel much better. I still missed her, but the depression was less, and the guilt was gone.

In today's world of constant hustle, bustle and stress it's often hard to find a "good" time to remember and honor those who have passed before us. In spite of this though, it is still important to make this time not only for them, but also for ourselves.