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Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson

ObjectsWeKeep:Mom’sWeddingDress

A mother’s wedding dress

seems to hold a curiosity for

her daughters. My mom’s

wedding dress was no

different. My older sister, a

foreverromanticusedtotryto

shimmyintoourmom’sdress

but itdidn’t fither.Formany

years, our mom’s dress was

ungracefully rolled intoaball

and stored into a mini room

behindadoor inourparent’s

bedroom, a small roomwe referred as the eaves (not quite an attic space.) Not being a

romanticandbeingsevenyearsyoungerthanmysister,Ididn’tthinkmuchaboutmymom’s

weddingdress.

Ididaskmomonce-whyisyourdressrolledintoaball?Iknewsomewomenhadtheir

dressescarefullypreservedandhanginginacloset,notrolledintoaballandjammedintoan

off-seasoncloset.Mymom’sanswerwassimple,theirweddingdaywasbusy,whenitwas

timetochangeintotheirgoingawayoutfits,sherolledupherdress,putthedressintoabag

Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson

andthatwasthat.IremembertellingherIthoughtthatwasawful,thatsheshouldhavecared

moreaboutherdress.IfIremembercorrectly,Ithinksherolledhereyesatmeandtoldme,

suchislife.

Childhoodpassed.ThenwhenIwasinmytwenties,myparentswereinacaraccident.My

momwaslaidupforawhileandasherhealthimproved,shegrewmorerestlessbeingin

bed.Mysisterhadtheideatogoandsitwithourmomforwhatseemedlikehourschattering

away.(Mysisterwouldhavebeenmarriedbythenandwouldcomeforvisits.)Ourmom

lovedit.Oneday,sinceIwasthenengaged,mysistercameupwiththeideathatIshouldtry

onmom’sdress.MmokIrecallsaying,seeingthatmyengagementwasscheduledtobea

longone,Ihadn’tbeeninanyrushtosearchforthedress,butIdidstillneedadress.My

sister pulled outmom’swedding dress, she helped button the back of the dress up as I

continued chattering away. When she was close to all the buttons being buttoned, I

remembermysistersayingsomethingtotheeffectof:Hey,whenareyougoingtoshutup

andrealizethisdressisfittingyouperfectly?Sheswungmyparent’sbedroomdoorclosed,

showingthebackofthedoorweretherewasafull-lengthmirrorandthereitwassoclearly:

ThePerfectWeddingDress.

Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson

Giventhat inour family,eachofus

kids were adopted and each of us

comes from of a different ethnic

background,mom’sdressfittingme

perfectlywas not a given (after all

mom’s dress didn’t work for my

sister.)Butitwasundeniable,itwas

aperfectfitforme.

When our mom was fully back on

herfeet,Irecallshoppingoneortwo

timesforaweddingdresswithher,

butnootherdresscomparedtoherbeautifuldress.So,momtookthedresstothecleaners,

haditcleanedandrestored.Shesewedanextrarowoflaceontothesleevessincemyarms

wereslightlylongerandshesewedarowoflaceatthenecklinewhichIwanted.Mysister

madeawreathof flowersandveil.Andthatwasmyweddingdressformyfirstmarriage

manyyearsago.

Objects We Keep: Mom’s Wedding Dress Copyright 2020 by Karen Nicole Johnson

Myweddingdaywasbusy.Whenitwastime

tochangeintoourgoingawayoutfit,Irolled

up the gown, put thedress into a bag and

thatwasthat.Andtothisdaythatiswhere

my first wedding dress, mom’s wedding

dressremains-rolledupungracefully ina

bag.

Clean up, purge - sure - but never mom’s

weddingdress.