The Three New Dresses

Ivy was a young housewife with three growing children. Unfortunately she had not chosen wisely in her marriage and was having great difficulties. Her husband drank a lot, gambled a lot, went with women a lot. When he did not have money to do the things he liked to do he would break into the gas meter and electric meter and steal all the money he could find for his pleasure. She was left to lie to the man that came to collect the money, often saying that they had been burgled to save him from going to prison.

He would often arrive home late, drunk and very unhappy with himself for getting drunk and taking his unhappiness out on her. As the children grew they became more aware of what was happening and would hear the fighting downstairs. One of the children would often go down to break up the fights.

When he started bringing women home that he had made pregnant and told her to do something for them she could take no more and threw him out saying he must never come back to the house again.

In those days there was not the welfare help that there is today and she had to go out to work to support her family. There was never any money for luxuries. At Easter time, when most children received chocolate eggs, her children had hens eggs which they made pretty patterns on with paint and that would be exchanged with a family member. On Easter morning each would eat the gift, but not before admiring how beautifully it had been decorated.

Whitsun time was another special time when there was the annual parade. The girls and their mum would always go and watch. There was a Queen of the May, (usually the most beautiful girl of the district). She would have a very beautiful dress on and would sit on a throne on top of a float exquisitely adorned with flowers of every kind. Following her would be all the children, the girls in long dresses with garlands in their hair and carrying posies and the boys in suits with a smart bow tie. There would be a brass band near the front and another at the end of the parade so that the children could march to the rhythm of the band.

Ivy's children never took part in that parade because there was never enough money for a beautiful dress. Every time she tried to save, her husband would find the money and gamble it away.

Well, now she did not have that problem, but she had to work long hours and still just managing to pay the bills. Now she was in control of the money she made up her mind that this year her children would walk in that parade.

She put a little away each week and when she had enough she went to the shop. She could not afford to buy the dresses but she had been given a sowing machine. She bought three lots of material; one pale green, one pale pink and one lilac. The way the material was made it looked like there was silver running through it. She bought wide satin ribbon to tie round the waist of each; bright green to go with the pale green, magenta to go with the pink one and purple to go with the lilac one.

She loved her children lots and had not been able to show them before how much because her husband had been a very jealous man. Now she was determined that they would hold their heads up high.

She worked long hard hours during the day and was always very tired when she got home but it did not stop her from enjoying some time together with her girls. She would wait till they had gone to bed and then set to work on the dresses. Night after night, she would eagerly get the sowing machine out and you could hear it going, it seemed like it was humming away, content to be doing something useful. If something was not quite right she would pull it out and start again, absolutely determined that the dresses would be the best thing that she had ever done.

The three children had no idea what was going on. They saw a change taking place in their mother, they did not know what it was only that she looked happier than she had ever been as long as they had known her.

One Saturday night, a week before the parade, after the cleaning of the house had been done and they were all sat at the table eating supper, their mother could hold herself no longer. She told them that as soon as they had finished eating she had something to show them. She asked, very casually, how they would feel about taking part in the parade instead of just being at the side watching.

They all looked questioningly at her. She seemed to have stars in her eyes and she was smiling like they had never seen her before.

Now they could not help but pick up her feeling and asked excitedly what was happening. She took them into her bedroom and, one by one brought out of the wardrobe the three dresses and gave one to each of her girls. They were speechless, never had they seen such lovely dresses.

Each tried them on as the others watched in awesome wonder. The satin ribbon tied round the waist making a bow at the back which sat elegantly on each. There was a posy for each which she had made from the material left and flowers which she had dried. Tin foil was used to make a carrier for them which added to their sparkle.

Well they had a whole week to gaze in wonder at those dresses before the special day arrived, which added to the magic. On the Sunday morning, a great change also took place in those children. Each helped the other to get ready. Sharing shampoo, perfume, jewellery, whatever would add to the beauty of the other. The mother realised what had been started by her was being taken up by her children and that they learnt so much by example. She told them what a wonderful thing it was when all worked together doing things to make the others happy. They realised that each one was so much happier in themselves sharing and caring.

That Sunday afternoon as the mother watched her children it was the most magical moment for all concerned. She realised she had started something that need not last for only a day, but every day. In fact it remained so strong in the hearts of those children all their lives, they never forgot it and when bringing it back it was not so much the dresses they remembered but the good feelings inside themselves.

The dresses were made special because, for the first time, the mother was able to express her love without being stopped. But what was also so very important was the appreciation shown by the children.

Some years later, as her love began to grow she met a man with whom she could share it with and life for her was really a blessing.