Prom was supposed to be glitter and slow songs. For me, it was always going to be lavender.<\/p>\n
My mom\u2019s dress lived in the back of my closet\u2014lavender satin, tiny flowers, spaghetti straps. \u201cWhen I go to prom, I\u2019ll wear your dress,\u201d I once told her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll keep it safe,\u201d she smiled.<\/p>\n
Cancer broke that promise. By twelve, she was gone. That dress became my memory of her.<\/p>\n
Then Dad remarried.<\/p>\n
Stephanie came in cold marble and white leather. She called Mom\u2019s keepsakes \u201cjunk.\u201d When she saw me in the dress, ready for prom, she sneered. \u201cYou can\u2019t wear that. I bought you designer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was my mom\u2019s,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
She leaned closer. \u201cShe\u2019s gone. I\u2019m your mother now. You\u2019ll wear what I chose.\u201d<\/p>\n
That night, I cried into the dress and made my decision. But on prom day, I unzipped the garment bag and found it destroyed\u2014ripped, stained, ruined.<\/p>\n
Stephanie appeared, smug. \u201cI warned you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then\u2014\u201cMegan?\u201d Grandma\u2019s voice. She took one look and said, \u201cGet the sewing kit.\u201d<\/p>\n
For two hours, she cleaned, stitched, saved it.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t perfect. But it was lavender again. It was Mom.<\/p>\n
At prom, the satin shimmered. \u201cIt was my mom\u2019s,\u201d I said to anyone who asked.<\/p>\n
When I got home, Dad whispered, \u201cYou look just like her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie called it pathetic.<\/p>\n
Dad replied, \u201cShe honored her mother. I\u2019ve never been prouder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie left. The silence she left felt like peace.<\/p>\n
That night, I hung the dress back up. The seam still showed\u2014a line holding everything together.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t make it weaker. It made it ours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prom was supposed to be glitter and slow songs. For me, it was always going to be lavender. My mom\u2019s dress lived in the back of my… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n