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!

My Mom Fought the U.S. Post Office and Won

My mom embarrassed me years ago when she called our small town post office and complained about slow package delivery. I gave the eulogy at mom ’ s memorial service, and I told the mortifying story at the chapel. Respectful laughter filled the room. However, embarrassment doesn ’ t bother you when you ’ re dead in the grave and maybe that ’ s the lesson here today. Mom loved to send packages to me in Arizona. She often mailed pencils, recipe clippings, bars of soap, cereal, odds and ends that were meaningful to her. Mom never understood that her mailings to a hick town in the west take a heck of a lot longer than it does in Chicago. I got umpteen phone calls from her before any shipment arrived and she would ask impatiently: “ Did you get my package yet? ” It was about six years ago when retrieving my mail, Toni, my favorite clerk shouted to me across the room from the front desk, “Your mother called me yesterday. She...

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 ...

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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