Grandma's Dresses...

Today I received a package via snail mail from my mom.  It contained one of my paternal grandmother's dresses that she had hand made.  I had hoped that the dress would still smell of grandma, but upon opening the package I realized it wasn't one of the more familiar dresses of Grandma's.. in fact I may never have seen her wear this particular one and in big letters on the inside of the back neckline were the permanent marker markings ALTHA KELLEY made by the laundry dept of the nursing home where she spent her later days (before her death in the hospital).   The dress doesn't seem to have any smell.  Not of laundry, not of sweat, not of Grandma...  however I know she made it and to me that is special.  Grandma made all of her dresses out of single knit polyester.  They were three quarter length sleeves with just a small hem.  no cuffs, no elestic, no shoulder pads.  The dress was a simple pattern, no darts, no zippers, no buttons, no collar, no waist line.  Most of the dresses had a v neck and some had ends that would tie into a loose bow, which often Grandma just left untied.  For several she made a tie belt of the same fabric.  I think those were her dressy ones.  At home she would be barefooted most if not all the time.  For church she would put on hose and flat heeled shoes and sometimes would dress up her outfit with a sweater or jacket.  I remember most of her dresses were black or navy with flowers of red or other prints.  She had some light green and blue dresses too.  The one momma sent me was a multi print (kindof pretty really) not floral but has green, blue, black and white design in it.  Right now I put it over my glider rocker and stuck a teddy bears head out of the neck opening.  I wanted it to look like Grandma was sitting there... but kindof silly of me to think it actually would.    I love Grandma and thank God for the legacy she left me.  She was the kind of person I hope to be.  Good, kind and Godly..


Thank God for His love and mercy and for allowing me to have another day.