Bea, 20 years old, VA | 5 DAYS WAITING

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Bea remembers everyone’s order, their name, and how their week is going. As a barista at a neighborhood coffee shop, she has a way of making regulars feel like they’ve walked into a room where they are expected, and some of them have stopped by just to talk to her. Bea learned to read people’s moods because she had to. After being removed from her home as a child, she moved through one placement after another, always watching, always adapting, always trying to make herself easy to keep. She became the kind of person who puts everyone else first. Somewhere along the way, she rarely allowed herself to be cared for, and softness became a luxury she couldn’t afford. Bea works long hours while taking classes toward a counseling degree. She dreams of becoming a therapist who sits with young people in foster care and says the words she needed to hear: you are not too much, and you are worth the time. She is warm, patient, and brave, and she is finally learning that she deserves some tenderness too.

Scent has a way of staying with us, and Bea wants hers to be something sweet, warm, and comforting. A vanilla perfume would become her signature, a little ritual she can wear to class, work, and all the moments as she builds her future. It would help her feel polished and confident, and carry a bit of calm through busy days. For a young woman who has spent years creating comfort for other people, it would be a tender reminder that she can have it too.