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Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson
ObjectsWeKeep:Mom’sWeddingDress
A mother’s wedding dress
seems to hold a curiosity for
her daughters. My mom’s
wedding dress was no
different. My older sister, a
foreverromanticusedtotryto
shimmyintoourmom’sdress
but itdidn’t fither.Formany
years, our mom’s dress was
ungracefully rolled intoaball
and stored into a mini room
behindadoor inourparent’s
bedroom, a small roomwe referred as the eaves (not quite an attic space.) Not being a
romanticandbeingsevenyearsyoungerthanmysister,Ididn’tthinkmuchaboutmymom’s
weddingdress.
Ididaskmomonce-whyisyourdressrolledintoaball?Iknewsomewomenhadtheir
dressescarefullypreservedandhanginginacloset,notrolledintoaballandjammedintoan
off-seasoncloset.Mymom’sanswerwassimple,theirweddingdaywasbusy,whenitwas
timetochangeintotheirgoingawayoutfits,sherolledupherdress,putthedressintoabag
Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson
andthatwasthat.IremembertellingherIthoughtthatwasawful,thatsheshouldhavecared
moreaboutherdress.IfIremembercorrectly,Ithinksherolledhereyesatmeandtoldme,
suchislife.
Childhoodpassed.ThenwhenIwasinmytwenties,myparentswereinacaraccident.My
momwaslaidupforawhileandasherhealthimproved,shegrewmorerestlessbeingin
bed.Mysisterhadtheideatogoandsitwithourmomforwhatseemedlikehourschattering
away.(Mysisterwouldhavebeenmarriedbythenandwouldcomeforvisits.)Ourmom
lovedit.Oneday,sinceIwasthenengaged,mysistercameupwiththeideathatIshouldtry
onmom’sdress.MmokIrecallsaying,seeingthatmyengagementwasscheduledtobea
longone,Ihadn’tbeeninanyrushtosearchforthedress,butIdidstillneedadress.My
sister pulled outmom’swedding dress, she helped button the back of the dress up as I
continued chattering away. When she was close to all the buttons being buttoned, I
remembermysistersayingsomethingtotheeffectof:Hey,whenareyougoingtoshutup
andrealizethisdressisfittingyouperfectly?Sheswungmyparent’sbedroomdoorclosed,
showingthebackofthedoorweretherewasafull-lengthmirrorandthereitwassoclearly:
ThePerfectWeddingDress.
Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson
Giventhat inour family,eachofus
kids were adopted and each of us
comes from of a different ethnic
background,mom’sdressfittingme
perfectlywas not a given (after all
mom’s dress didn’t work for my
sister.)Butitwasundeniable,itwas
aperfectfitforme.
When our mom was fully back on
herfeet,Irecallshoppingoneortwo
timesforaweddingdresswithher,
butnootherdresscomparedtoherbeautifuldress.So,momtookthedresstothecleaners,
haditcleanedandrestored.Shesewedanextrarowoflaceontothesleevessincemyarms
wereslightlylongerandshesewedarowoflaceatthenecklinewhichIwanted.Mysister
madeawreathof flowersandveil.Andthatwasmyweddingdressformyfirstmarriage
manyyearsago.
Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson
Myweddingdaywasbusy.Whenitwastime
tochangeintoourgoingawayoutfit,Irolled
up the gown, put thedress into a bag and
thatwasthat.Andtothisdaythatiswhere
my first wedding dress, mom’s wedding
dressremains-rolledupungracefully ina
bag.
Clean up, purge - sure - but never mom’s
weddingdress.
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