The Prom Dress

I was one of those lucky girls who got to go to her first Prom with the boy of her dreams. He played the saxophone, had curly hair, and was one of the 6 Mormon guys I knew. Prom was so much fun but I'll be honest as much fun as I has with my date and our friends nothing compared to what had happened before he ever showed up.

My mom is an amazing seamstress and so she and I had picked out a pattern, the color of my dress, and the material for Prom. Being one of 7 (at the time) kids kept my mom busy and so the making of Prom dress (like most dresses made by mom) happened in the wee hours of the night and right up to the night before Prom.

Mom and I had decided on this green satin material. The dress pattern was simple. It was an empire waist with a bow that tied in the back. We decided that we would turn the material inside out (still very nice material) for the top of the dress and leave it the satin side for the button. The pattern wasn't too formal looking but the satin material made it more elegant. So mom went to task making the dress. she made a few mock dresses and had me stand for measurements etc and all was well...or so I thought.

the night before Prom mom brought the dress in for final touch ups and I all but gasped. I tried really hard for a girl of 16 not to cry--but the dress looked horrible. I knew my mom had been slaving away to make this dress for me so I didn't know what to say. It just hadn't turned out looking good at all. Mom apologized and I sucked it up and I put it on and resigned myself to just wearing the plain, simple, drab, ugly dress to prom. The idea mom and I had of the dress was a good one but the material turned out too simple on top and so it just looked awful. I just felt so awful because I knew I wasn't hiding the fact that I didn't like the dress very well, but I was trying so hard for my mom's sake. I went to bed crushed that my Prom dream wasn't going to come true. I had the dream date but not the dream dress I had imagined.

This is the part of the story that I love. There are so many things I could tell you all about how I know my mom loves me--so many attributes that I wish I possessed--how I can't imagine a world with out her. My mom has told me a gazillion times how much I mean to her and how much she loves me but there is something so true about the idea of actions speak so much louder than words.

when I woke up in the morning the first thing I thought of was how I had to make myself get into that dress and smile and greet my date later on that night and how I would really have to be strong because that last thing I wanted to do was to hurt my mom's feelings. Those thoughts quickly evaporated when I saw my Prom dress hanging up on my bedroom door. This was not the same dress as I tried on the night before. My mom had stayed up the entire night and hand unpicked the entire bodice (top part) of my dress. She went and bought some white satin material and completely redid my dress. To this day I can barely think of this story without getting teary. I couldn't believe it. My mom had seen my disappointment and decided to fix the dress even if it meant no sleep for her.

It goes without saying that I had the best Prom ever complete with dream guy and dream dress. I remember looking around at all the other girls dresses and taking a moment to realize how blessed I was to have the mom I have. My dress was modest, beautiful, unique, and made with so much love. Mom, I'll never forget what you did for me. I love you!