THE WHITE DRESS

The White Dress
Twenty years or so ago, it was quite customary to wear a long dress for special occasions. Several of my girls and I were window shopping because it was something I loved to do, even though we rarely bought anything except clothes for school.
At one of the department stores, I happened to glance over at the dresses as we browsed, and my breath caught in my throat as I saw this beautiful, long dress, pure white with little pearl buttons that traveled the whole length of the dress.
My girls saw my expression and chorused, “Try it on, try it on”. I told them it was silly, but in my heart I knew I had to try it on just to see how it would look on me. It was a size 10, (was I ever that size?) and as I slipped it on, I became Cinderella instantly. It encircled me in a beautiful haze as it fell in soft folds around me.
Oh, what a special dress it was. But then reality set in, as the price tag read “One Hundred dollars“! Ed was working three jobs as it was, the kids all needed clothes, Christmas was coming soon, and my priorities were clear. I honestly did not even obsess over it, and we went on to finish shopping before we headed home.
I never thought about “The Dress” again. Fast forward to Christmas Day. There were Christmas wrappings and ribbons strewn across the floor, when the kids came in carrying a big box and presented it to me with silly grins. “Open it”, they said, “It’s for you”.
And there, nestled in yards of white tissue paper, was “The Dress”. I cried. Even though I knew they had enlisted Ed’s help in buying it, I was overwhelmed at their generous outpouring of love.
I wore it on New Year’s Eve and then again to a St. Valentine’s dance at our parish. And I must have glowed, because perfect strangers came up to me to tell me how beautiful I looked and inevitably asked, “Where did you get that dress?”
Although there were other memorable gifts over the years, this one memory will always be one of my most favorite.