A Vintage Costume for a Vintage Birthday

One of the writing prompts at Writer’s Digest suggests writing about a time you got dressed up in your favorite costume and describe why it was your favorite.

This was a hard one for me because I’m part of a family that loves to party and I’m embarrassed to admit how many times we’ve celebrated events with themes and costumes. But one event does top all the others. Months before I turned 50, my oldest daughter approached me with an offer I couldn’t refuse. She told me to think about how I would like to celebrate my special birthday and she would do anything possible within her means to make my dream come true. I told her my secret desire that I pondered often was to host an elegant Victorian high tea party and would she be my maid?

The girls in my Bible study responded to my tea party invitation with girlish glee. To my amazement, three of them found Victorian patterns and began to sew their outfits. A few of the others began to team up and go “thrift store shopping” hunting for vintage treasures. I got busy researching the Victorian Era and found tidbits of interesting information to share about the women of that time. I designed my daughter’s maid costume and made my own Victorian skirt. When I wasn’t sewing, I was baking dainty cookies and pastries and freezing them for the big event. I purchased a tea set at an antique store. I placed doilies everywhere! The lady at the craft store was as excited as me helping me with my homemade flower arrangements. I bought hand mirrors for each woman that I decorated with fabric and flowers. During our last cup of tea, it warmed my heart when I gave the mirrors to the women and watched everybody lift up their mirrors and primp at once! It was a snapshot memory I keep in my heart.
I will always be grateful to my daughter for supporting me in this dream and making it come true for me. She was exhausted by the end of the day meeting all of my needs. It was, indeed, a landmark birthday!

A Memorial Day Reflection

Memorial Day is always noteworthy for me and my girls. Next Thursday marks the third year of missing their father, my husband. So many thoughts run through my mind. The journey of loss takes on various emotions. The strongest feeling, at first, was emptiness. In a split second, I would forget he departed forever. I imagined things I needed to talk to him about when he got back home. My mind is realistic now. He's not coming back. There will be no more times of sitting on the porch swing together on the front deck staring at the moon and the stars. He would tell me all he knew about the majestic night sky. I have so much I wish I could tell him, like the excitement of seeing our oldest grandchild make a decision to follow Jesus and get baptized on Mother's Day! And our little Amy, 11 years old, I wish he could have seen her on stage receiving her induction to the National Honor Society. Our daughters have their own ...

Abba's Lap

I noticed a behavior pattern in little Amy, twenty months old, that I want to imitate. She moves fast engaging in one toddler activity after another spinning like a whirlwind from one room to another. Yet, she pauses, intermittently , long enough to get refreshed. I want to be like this grandchild of mine because she knows where to go and how to get comforted. Amy moves at record speed, putting more miles on a pedometer in one hour than my accumulated weekly workouts at the gym. She can build a skyscraper so tall, I wonder why those bright pink Lego’s don’t topple to the ground as she continues to stack just one more piece on top. I learned never to leave the room to get another cup of coffee. Once, when I returned, I found her climbing past the couch with hands and feet reaching for the living room drapes. She has a consistent habit that I admire. In the midst of her activities, as she moves robustly from one play...

A Surprise at the Mall

I lost touch with a writer friend. I missed her and her cheerful blog posts. We met up in a most unusual way! I’m still in awe of how it happened. I finished my shopping at the mall and took a short cut to get to the parking lot. The path led me through the food court. The smell of Chicken Fajitas stopped me in my tracks. I planned lunch elsewhere, but now I followed my nose. I chewed my first bite of chicken taco salad when, out of nowhere, a loud redhead moved rapidly past the tables and into the booth with me. “I know you !” She shouted. I pondered if I knew this crazy lady. Did she mistake me for someone else? She shouted louder and stuck her finger in my face: “ You’re Mary; you have a blog called Pile of Smiles and you live in the Verde Valley .” It took me a second to compose myself. I stopped chewing my food. I know I stared too long at her face and then she said:...

Choose Joy in the Journey

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