Being the geek that I am, I didn’t take any fun or interesting electives in high school. But my daughter Sara was more adventurous in that she signed up for the Drama Class.
I didn’t realize just how intense this class was until they began to work on plays and other projects. Then came the annual class trip to New York City to watch Broadway plays and take in a little sightseeing. I was very impressed with the teacher at the first parent meeting for the trip. Let me tell you, he had every detail down to a science. Plus, he knew his way around New York. Listen, I still get turned around sometimes in Knoxville. Anyway, he informed us they would do lots of fundraising in order to help bring down the cost for the parents. That way more students could afford to go.
One of the fundraisers was a dance. Sara was excited since a boy she liked was going too. I don’t remember what the exact theme was, but the girls were to wear long dresses. While the dress didn’t have to be formal, she didn’t want to wear an icky or “oldish” one. Mom and I weren’t sure what she meant by that, so there was only one thing to do: go shopping. The three of us went to several different stores. There were a couple that I just knew would have something we could use. They didn’t. Let’s just say Mom and I soon found out what Sara meant by icky and “oldish.” After a couple more weeks of searching, we still hadn’t found anything that she liked. Honestly, I didn’t blame her. I didn’t like them either.
The Saturday before the dance, we were eating lunch at Mamaw Jo’s house. At that point, I was at a total loss about what to do about getting a dress for Sara. I could tell she and mom felt the same since they were so quiet. Mamaw was the only one who was talking.
My ears perked up when I heard her mention she needed to straighten out the attic again. Then it struck me like a lightning bolt. I’m surprised I didn’t light up. “Is my old prom dress still the attic?” After my senior prom, Mamaw placed my dress in a garment bag and hung it in her attic way back in 1983. “I guess. I haven’t ever taken it out,” she answered.
With that, we jumped up and ran upstairs to the attic door. Immediately, mom and I began to unzip the garment bags. Soon mom pulled out my huckleberry prom dress. “Found it!” I had to smile. It hadn’t faded and was as beautiful as I remembered it. “You need to try it on.” I eagerly agreed. With that all, we all went back downstairs to Mamaw’s bedroom. Sara put it on and looked into the mirror. Her eyes lit up. “It’s absolutely perfect.”
“That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:” Acts 17:27 (KJV) .
Isn’t it funny how we searched through many stores and my old prom dress was in the attic the whole time. The same can be said of The Lord. People search and, at times, go to extremes in order find Him. But He was and is nearby the whole time. You can always find Him from where ever you are.
The picture with the article used to hang Mamaw Jo’s living room. On the left, is me in my prom dress in 1983. On the right, is Sara wearing the same dress in 2008. I think she wore it way better than I did.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.