I remember so well how we all
were sitting around the dining room
table that evening. We
were resting a few minutes and talking
about the arrangements for the
sale. It seemed like Mom should
still be there with us, that
she should come walking into the room
with that familiar, cheerful
airy whistling sound that wasn't
quite a whistle and yet there
was a tune. Mom always whistled
her own unique whistle whenever
she was preoccupied
with what she was doing.
We comforted ourselves in the
knowledge that Mom had lived
a long life of more than 84
years. One of the things that she loved
was to travel and she was very
proud that she had been
in 49 of the 50 state in the
U.S.A. She had only recently made her
biggest trip to Alaska on a
tour with her friend, Margaret.
I think she would have visited
all 50 states except she had
not yet overcome her fear of
water and of flying so that made
Hawaii a little difficult to
visit. She had outlived two husbands,
and many close relatives and
friends, which calls for
a great inner strength which
came from her Christian faith
of many years. Most of
all we remembered how
she had been a wonderful mother
to my brother, Jerry, and I.
When you lose your last parent,
there is something akin to
the feeling of being orphaned.
Even though I didn't live
close to Mom, I had the habit
of picking up the phone
when I wanted to and giving
her a call. I would find myself
many times later thinking of
a question, heading toward the phone,
and thinking, "I'll have to
ask Mom about that".
Then reality strikes and then
the pain of realizing
you can no longer make that
phone call.
I guess I was sitting there at
the dining room table feeling
a bit desolate that evening.
Everyone was talking about
which things went into the sale
and which things we were keeping
in the family, when suddenly
my eyes focused on
an old battered opened suitcase
in the corner. I jumped up as I said ,
"Where did that come from?".
Everyone just looked at me,
not quite understanding what
was going on in my head
as there were all kinds of things
laying around that we had been
going through, so what was the
big deal about an old suitcase.
I went over and grabbed up the
material that I saw laying there,
it was a dress, a very nice
dress. It was a dark navy blue
with tiny white polka dots and
the material was
of excellent quality, even after
all those years. I felt my whole
body tremble and I must have
been covered with goose bumps
because this was something special.
You see, I remembered…
I was only four or five years
old but I remembered…..
.Mama said, "Pamy, this is my
wedding dress."
"This is the dress I wore when
I married your Daddy."
I've wondered so many times since,
where did that dress come from
and how did it get there in
the dining room that night. I only
remember seeing it that one
time when Mom was cleaning a closet
when I was a little girl.
No one remembered putting it there
or seeing it there before and
we had been going
through everything together.
However it got there, I do believe
it was there for a reason.
It brought those memories
back and somehow comforted me.
I brought the dress home
and had it cleaned.
Just recently, my daughter,
Jeanna, had her engagement picture
taken wearing her Grandmother's
wedding dress!
I wonder if her Grandma
is looking down and whistling a wedding tune.
By Pamela R. Blaine
c April 17, 2000
Joe & Jeanna (engagement
picture)
Jeanna is wearing her Grandmother's wedding dress in the above picture.
Wedding Date: July 1,
2000
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