The Prom Dress That Changed My Life (Photo)
Angel here growing up with a single momma we didn't have much. As we prepared to celebrate Mother's Day I think of one dress my mom bought me that changed my whole life.
In my 28 years I had my momma on earth, not once did she fail me. I look back and think of the tireless hours she worked to make ends meet for our family. She did it with a smile on her face and sometimes a tear in her eye when the days became hard but still, she would press on.
Momma always made sure I had the best of everything even if that meant she worked three jobs to make it happen. She'd wear a $.25 yard sale t-shirt and the same clothes over and over all the while making sure I looked like I had just stepped out of a hatbox.
My senior year as prom was approaching she and I began talking dresses. Momma was always working so it was hard for her to be a part of things like prom dress shopping or those activities that most moms get to do with their daughters. Honestly, I went to several proms in high school and always just borrowed a dress because goodness they were expensive and not in our budget. This year was different. She took off work to go with me. I was so excited because she didn't get to do that much. We went to Abbington's and picked out bunches of dresses. I swear I tried on about 20 with no luck until the last one. THIS DRESS! It was the dress dreams were made of. It was pale pink with beading on the top and down the back. It was simple, elegant, and absolutely gorgeous, and fit like it was sewn on my body. I walked out and momma said that's the dress. I gushed over it. I went back into the dressing room to take it off and looked at the price...$475. I was crushed. I knew there was no way we could afford the dress. I hung it up and walked out of the dressing room with a smile on my face and told momma I wanted to keep looking and that I wasn't quite sure that was the dress for me. She looked confused but said ok.
I couldn't stop thinking about the dress. I truly loved it. I wanted it so bad but knew it was not even possible. That Friday right before I left school I got called to the office and had a message to call my mom at work. I did and she asked me to come by. She was working for a sweet older lady who had Alzheimer's. I walked in the house and called for my momma she told me to hold on and came from the back of the house holding MY DRESS! I burst into tears and said "Momma how, momma no, momma" she stopped me and said "this dress was made for you" It was perfect.
I had never doubted how much my mother loved me but that day her devotion to my happiness and her sacrificial love drove deep into my soul. I often think back to this time and a million others when I am struggling as a mother or complaining about little things. I think of my mother's love for me.
The dress was a show stopper and I went on to wear it to several other events. Including the very night I was crowned Miss Daviess County. As momma wrapped her arms around my neck after they placed the crown on my head she whispered "I told you this dress was made for you."
My mother's love and all her sacrifice taught me about who I wanted to be as a mother and as a person. She would give anyone the shirt off her back. She was always helping others and never wanting recognition. She found joy in loving others in their most difficult times. Most of all she loved me with every being in her body.
It may have only been a dress to some but it changed how I looked at life and how I loved others from then on.
As always thank you for letting me share my family and life with you all.
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