Dances and Dresses

My mom is the one on the left

My mother didn't think she was very beautiful. She would say that her younger sister Margaret was the pretty one. Family members said she was shy in high school, and didn't date very much.

But then I found a number of photographs like this one, of my mother in fancy dresses going to dances. This was at the Peony Park Ballroom. My mother was beautiful. And she probably went to more dances than I did. I went to one dance in high school, Homecoming my junior year.

I'm starting to catch up with her. Frank and I have gone to the Submarine Birthday Ball for the past four years. The first year wasn't any fun. Frank told me about it that week. I needed a dress. I don't like to shop, and I especially don't like to shop for expensive dresses that don't look very good on me. On Friday, the day of the ball, I finally found a halfway decent dress at JCPenney. It was cocktail length, which I've since found out isn't as good as a long dress for a military ball. But it worked. For three years. (I like to get my money's worth, just like my mom.)

This year I started looking for a dress early. I looked online, my favorite way to shop. (You can find anything online, even a husband!) My online dress shopping corresponded with signing up on Pinterest, so the dresses I "tried on" are saved on my "Dress board."  I never thought I would find a dress online that worked. I wanted to see what was available. But it turns out that I found a beautiful plum dress with sequined sleeves that looked like it might work for me. I ordered it, it arrived several days later, I tried it on, and it fit! I had to get it hemmed, but it will be perfect for the ball on April 20.

I wonder if I'm like my mom? I wonder if I don't think I'm very beautiful, when in fact, I am.