People will never forget how you make them feel – Maya Angelou (1928-2014) poet, singer, actress, memoirist
Carry out an act of kindness, with no expectation of reward save in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. – Princess Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)
I have found people on both sides of the aisle white and black, that’ll give you the shirt off their back. – Al Green (1946- ) American singer, songwriter, pastor, record producer
Living here in the Prairie and spending a lot of time outdoors, especially after winter moving into spring, there’s much cleaning up and planting to do. Just inside the door there’s a hat rack with hats, coats, and a space for outdoor footwear. The kitchen closet has an assortment of aprons that are sometimes necessary. The garment I became obsessed with was finding a sturdy denim dress. The criteria included a midweight denim, must have pockets, short sleeves, midi or maxi length, with deep ruffles called tiers. You would think it wouldn’t be hard to find but it was. I didn’t think my criteria would be difficult, but it was.
I shopped stores locally in the Golden Triangle to no avail. I did find some denim dresses, but they didn’t fit the bill. I was starting to feel less like the Prairie woman and more like Goldilocks and the three bears-too big, too small, too short, no pockets, heavy denim, thin denim, no sleeves. From there I checked in with online options where I did find one that looked perfect. However, customer reviews found a denim dress of poor quality.
After a few weeks I opted to make another run locally thinking maybe new spring items arrived. No luck at the first store so I headed toward the exit with the plan of walking a ways to the next store when a lovely young lady walked in wearing the exact dress I was looking for. I quickly asked, “Where did you get this dress? I’ve been looking everywhere.” She smiled and said the dress had hung in her closet for a year. We exchanged pleasantries, and I walked toward the next store when I heard her holler “Ma’am, ma’am,” so I returned where we had parted.
She said, “I was going in to buy another dress to wear today, and I want you to have this one. I’ve only worn it this one time.” I of course declined, but she insisted. I offered to buy it from her, but she was having none of it. We exchanged some information: names and numbers. She wanted our photos together, so she snapped one on her phone. Who knew iPhones have filters that make you look really good. Chimerel Brewer needed no filters; we went our own ways. As Max Ehrmann wrote, “With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.”
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
