My Mother in a Flower Print Dress

This b/w photo of my mother as a young girl intrigues me-both because of her youth and her style. I love her dress with that flower print and fashionable neckline. My mother's taste for fine fabric was obvious at an early age. Years later she'd open a fabric shop. She was a perfectionist as a seamstress. Camel coats-suits-robes-she made them all. Every seam was straight. Every dart exact.

I love her hair. The style reminds me of what movie stars from that era wore on screen. I don't ever recall her wearing her hair long. This is the longest I've ever seen her hair. But even more intriguing to me than the dress or the hair are her eyes. They're not tired or worried. They're full of possibility. Did you ever wonder what your mother dreamt about when she was young and life was yet to unfold? We all have things about us that we keep to ourselves. We all have hopes and dreams and expectations we keep silent in our hearts that have nothing to do with children or family but rather all to do about us. I wonder what my mother kept silent as she reached adulthood-went to nursing school-met my father-and had children.

Some things she never kept silent were her love of books and Dean Martin. Her two favorite songs were 'In The Mood' and 'Mack the Knife.' She loved new cars and expensive clothes. She was a fine cook. Her hot chocolate sauce served over vanilla ice cream was possibly the most delicious tasting delight ever! She did her nails weekly and Toujours Moi was her perfume of choice. She loved Christmas. The tree had to be the tallest-the fullest.

But I still wonder. Underneath the books-songs-cars-clothes-perfume-chocolate sauce and Christmas trees-I wonder what she kept silent in her heart. Maybe it's because I am getting older that I wonder such a thing. Or maybe it's because I see another side of my mother that I never knew when looking into her curious eyes-dressed in that dress with a flower print and fashionable neckline.

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