The Dress

I loved my first communion dress! My grandmother made it for me for my first communion day. I remember going with her to pick out the fabric and watching her sew it all together. I felt so pretty when I finally got to wear it!

When I became a mom I was determined that I was going to sew the dresses for all of my daughters for their first communion days!

And when God sent me four sons in a row, I was undaunted. I took the first three to the fabric store when it was time for their first communion and let them pick out fabric for a vest and bow tie that I would sew for them. Then with a new shirt, pants and pair of shoes they were all ready for their big days!

Gabe’s first communion vest and bow tie.

But by the time I got to Noah my sewing time was harder to come by! I had a new nursing baby, I was homeschooling four children, and I was working as a medical transcriptionist with two new accounts that never gave me work on a set schedule! With so much on my plate I didn’t know how I was ever going to find the time to make something special for Noah! Luckily his Godmother came through with a suit for him to wear and he loved it. He thought he looked like James Bond! It was perfect.

I thought though that this year would be different. I thought if I broke the task up into little pieces month, by month, I could make my daughter’s first communion dress. I started in January picking out a pattern, and then in February getting the material. I had hopes of cutting out the dress in April but income taxes took a lot more time than I had expected. Then I pinned my hopes on one of my clients needing vacation time or a spring break! But it looks like all of the clients I transcribe for are toughing it out until summer time for any vacations. There will be no break from my regular work.

In a panic last week I thought my only solution was to take a week off from homeschooling and sew my daughter’s dress. And then Mr. Pete reminded me of something. What I really loved about my first communion dress was the connection it gave me to my grandmother. It made me feel loved, special and cared for! All these years later I do not know what happened to the dress, but I still remember my grandma with love 29 years after her death.

Izzy doesn’t need me to make her first communion dress to feel loved, special and cared for. The time we spend together everyday has already given her that, and I am so grateful to have had the extra opportunities to get to know my daughter through our home school. Ironically if I holed up for a week making the dress, we would spend very little time together!

So Izzy and I did some online shopping last week. I told her what to look for and how much we could afford to spend. She found a lovely dress and we ordered it together.

In my angst to make a memory I almost missed some. I certainly almost missed what is the most important thing about this special day in Izzy’s life. With our love and support she will take one more step on her faith journey. The lessons we have given her and the examples we have set matter the most. I’m glad I finally figured that out!

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