Mom's Story - by Tiffany

This is not an actual story. Is that okay? Well, maybe it’s a whole bunch of stories rolled up in one. When I think of experiences with Mom when I was growing up, one of the things that stands out the most is all of the time Mom spent at the sewing machine making stuff for me. I remember one time I walked in on her making a birthday dress for me. It was when we were staying with Grandma and Grandpa Tryon and I think I was turning 5 or 6 years old. Anyway, I walked in on Mom when she was sitting at the sewing machine making my “strawberry dress” as I called it. She very adeptly diverted my attention from it and sent me out of the room and I was still surprised when I got if for my birthday. That was one of my favorite dresses—the material was white with strawberries on it and it had a red bodice and plenty of ruffles. I also remember how she made me a blue gown and head covering when I was Mary in a school Nativity. I felt so graceful and Mary-like. I thought it was perfect. I also remember a time when she made me a shorts jumpsuit with multi-colored stripes. I remember my friend Bree and I both came to school one week with new outfits that our Moms had made for us. We bragged to each other about how our Moms had sewn them and how good the outfits looked. We both felt pretty cool that our Moms could sew so well. And then in high school I volunteered Mom to help make our choir dresses and she very graciously agreed to do it. I had no idea how much time and effort that little project would take (thanks, Mom J). I remember going to the fabric store with mom for reasons unknown to me and being BORED to death. The fabric store always played easy listening saxophone or piano versions of popular songs from the radio and I thought they were so dull. I did love the fancy fabric section though and the little accessories aisles. Sometimes mom would let us carry around one of those little 15-cent hard fuzzy bears and one time she even bought me one. And then as I got older the fabric store became more inviting. I remember going to the fabric store with her and being excited because we were going to pick out patterns and material for a school dance dress or a costume or a quilt or something fun like that. My closet is still filled with stuff Mom made for me: prom dresses, cute skirts, my baptism dress, bags, bridesmaids outfits, blouses, vests, my wedding quilt, my wedding dress—and there’s probably more to come, right Mom? :)