I still have this dress (somewhere). It's orange, and my mother removed the little white short sleeves that looked "silly".

It was my first "store bought" dress, and I was so excited! Either my mother made my clothes, or they were handed down from my cousins. I remember my mother crying, and I didn't understand until I was older that she cried because she never thought she'd be so poor that her little girl would be thrilled to have store bought clothes.

I didn't know we were poor--we were always happy, and my mother was, for the most part, content with what we had. Once in a while, though, something would hit her. Like the orange dress. Things were different then. Now I treasure the clothes she made for me more than the orange dress.

Attached Thumbnails