Grace and her dress

Front length ordered stunned Grace remains - random words on which story is based


Basically, she is oblivious. Yes, Grace is floating somewhere above the earth the rest of us walk upon. It is both a joy to behold and a real pain in the you-know- where. You are probably dying to know why my closest friend in the world is so out of it. Grace is getting married!! She has been waiting for this all her life, or so she tells me every time I see her. – and that’s a lot lately. Myself, I’ve been married for years and have three kids. I suppose I was excited before Sam and I got married. But, frankly, the hype is better than the real thing from my perspective. Don’t get me wrong, marriage is ok and all that stuff, but it’s not the idyllic, romantic, extended holiday concept Grace is playing in her mind these days. I’ve tried to tell her or warn her, but her bubble will not be popped by anything I say. Probably that is a blessing.
She told me she was stunned when Phil asked her to marry him. Don’t ask me why she was stunned. They had been doing EVERYTHING together for a couple of years. I HARDLY EVER saw her and, when I did, all she could talk about was ‘Phil this,’ or ‘Phil that’ Blah!! I got tired of that line of conversation quickly, as you can imagine.
I suppose, over the years, she got tired of hearing me talk about how wonderful Sam was or how great it was to be pregnant, how hard to have twins, etc. etc. I know I got tired of hearing about Phil. And I missed Grace. We’ve been fast friends since high school. We used to spend all our free time together when we were home from college or after work during those summers. We were practically inseparable. Sam entered my life while I was away at school. Things were ‘hot and heavy’ on campus but each summer we went back to our separate hometowns to work. I imagine I still talked about him a lot but I don’t really recall. Grace never complained; I do know that.
After college, Grace went to work in Boston and I got married and moved here. Life and distance made our friendship consist chiefly of brief phone conversations and occasional visits. Grace usually came here because traveling with the kids is not easy and her place was never big enough for all of us anyhow. Nevertheless, we still thought of each other as best friends.
About two years ago Grace took a job here in this city. I was delighted. I thought we could be close again, the way we were in high school. Of course the saying ‘you can’t go home again’ holds true. We are close but it’s definitely NOT the same. At first she was over here all the time. Then she met Phil. Do I need to say more?
Now Grace is getting married. She and Phil are moving halfway across the world. They’re going to California. Don’t ask me when I will ever see her again. We can’t go traipsing across the continent with three little kids. Even if that were physically possible, we don’t have the money. Besides, judging from my own experience, life will intervene for Grace too and our friendship will take a seat at the rear of the bus. I know I should be grateful for all our years as good buddies. In most ways I am. I guess, however, I am mourning her loss already.
I’ll always be connected to Grace though. I’ve made quite sure of that. I am making her wedding dress!! Whenever she looks at the inevitable wedding photo of the two of them resplendently displayed in the inevitable crystal frame sitting on her inevitable end table, she can’t help but think of me!!
It’s true that I sew as a way to supplement our income. Sam’s salary, while good, isn’t good enough with three kids. So, I sew. I squeeze projects in during nap times, after the kids are in bed, and during whatever quiescent times there are during our usual hectic days. I keep my sewing machine and paraphernalia in the dining room so I can be near where the kids play - in the adjacent living room or on the patio outside the dining room sliding door. It works for me. Right now (and usually if I am honest) our dining room looks like a proverbial war zone.
It’s worse now because wedding gowns require yards and yards of materials and additional stuff like lace with seed pearls, buttons, etc. Things are everywhere. We’re lucky to have room enough for the five of us to plunk down for meals at our table without someone stepping on something white and expensive. The kids are trying really hard to be good and careful around the wedding dress project. They are excited about “Auntie Grace’s” wedding too even though they’ve never been to one (and won’t be going to this one– too young). I’ve tried to keep the materials out of our way and protect what I can’t move with old bed sheets covered by plastic table cloths. So far, so good.
How did this whole wedding dress project come to be? Sometimes as I sit at my sewing machine wondering if I’ll ever get to the end of a seam in the luscious white satin fabric, I think I must have been crazy.
It started when Grace asked me to go shopping with her for her wedding dress. I did so gleefully. We hit all the clothing stores in all the malls in the area and every bridal shop in a 50 mile radius as well. That process took several weeks. I was absolutely appalled by the prices on these gowns!! Times have changed over the years. One needs to sock away a year’s salary to be able to afford even the simplest of designs. Price aside (by pre-agreement, we NEVER spoke of prices), Grace didn’t like any of them!! They were ‘too fancy,’ ‘too plain’, ‘too much lace’, ‘shoddy material’, etc. etc.
Don’t get me wrong. Grace is Grace. She is terminally nice! This means she was uniformly polite and appreciative to the myriad clerks who showed her all available gowns on the racks or in the catalogs in each of the establishments we visited. Her ‘too this and too that’ comments were for my ears (and hers of course) only.
Grace was woefully disappointed after our foray into the last possible place to buy a wedding gown. I could read it in her eyes and in the uncharacteristic drooping of her shoulders. I tried to lighten things up with one of my “not-so-funny-but-I’m-trying” kind of jokes. She smiled wanly. At that exact minute we walked by a fabric shop. In a weak moment (or was it?) I remember shouting, “That’s it! Come on in here. We’ll find a pattern you like and I’ll MAKE you a wedding gown.”
That was the beginning of the process about 6 months ago. Yes, 6 months!! Thanks heavens she had given herself plenty of time. She found a pattern she liked (with only slight modifications in terms of decorations). Naturally, it had to be ordered!! The shop didn’t have enough of the high quality satin required by the pattern so we ordered that too. The pattern came in within a week but the fabric took a month to arrive.
Once I had the pattern in hand, I got started. I had no idea there were so many layers to a wedding dress. Face it, Grace is hopelessly romantic and a bit on the old-fashioned side. She even wanted crinolines!! Do you know what they are? I’d practically forgotten. They are half-slips made with yards and yards of netting mounted to a hip-hugging smooth fabric top with a gusset for elastic at the waist. I whipped that off with ease. The train with its intricate directions for the placement of ties to make it possible to tie it up into a bustle for the reception was a real challenge. I won’t bore you with all the details of pearl buttons all the way up the back or other aspects of the process. Let’s just say it was grueling. But it’s come together and, if I do say so myself, is gorgeous. I think Grace will look like the Cinderella she probably had in her mind from the start.
Grace has been here numerous times for fittings. Each time she radiates happiness. The closer the gown comes to completion, the more radiant she looks. Basically her wedding dress is done now. All that remains is the lace decoration with seed pearls for the front. Actually, most of the decoration is on the bodice though there are panels of lace all the way down the front. I think she looks breathtaking in her gown. I imagine Phil will feel the same way on their wedding day. If he doesn’t, there’s something wrong with the man.
Grace came today for the final fitting. She donned her dress and began to swirl and twirl around our living room. She tipped her head back and laughed with glee. Her happiness was contagious. The kids always sit lined up on the old brown sofa and watch this process. Today they laughed too and even clapped with excitement as she danced around the room. Occasionally, she would swoop up a stray toy with the hem of the dress which swishes across the rug. The children would dash to pick up the errant toy and laugh uproariously.
Then she grabbed me and twirled me around with her at dizzying speed. She smooched my check and shouted ‘thank you, thank you, thank you’ over and over again. The kids were practically in a frenzy. They too buzzed and zipped about the room. It was pure chaos but happy chaos!
I think she likes it! I am pleased that she is happy with her dress. I feel bonded to Grace in a new way – probably a more mature way. I don’t know how it will work, but I do know we will remain friends through thick and thin even if we do live across this nation from one another. Perhaps that’s the inevitable outcome when one woman, a cherished friend, makes a wedding gown for her best friend. That’s amazing, Grace!!