9. Writing Short Stories About Family
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The Wedding Dress is a short story I wrote a few years ago. It involved two generations and one dress that satisfied the dreams of two brides. This family story had been told a few times before I wrote it down. I had the photos to depict the dress, the brides and the times. After writing it, editing it and more editing, I decided to share my story with a larger audience than just family. I sent the story to Chicken Soup for the Soul, Magic of Mothers and Daughters and they liked it enough to buy the story.
Even if they had never bought the story, it had been transformed from oral to written, not to be lost when a generation quit retelling it. My children and grandchildren keep encouraging me to not only tell the stories but to write them down. Of course they love it when it appears in a book but I have come to realize the publishing of any of the family stories is simply a bonus. The real gift I am leaving to the next generation is to have the stories to go with the photos and some that have no picture to accompany them.
"Family history builds bridges between the generations of our families." Dennis B. Neuenshcwander
Today I share with you part of the story of The Wedding Dress.
My daughter, Marles, had been planning every detail of her wedding since she was a little girl. Satin and lace played a huge part in those plans. I hoped we could find a bridal shop offering huge discounts, even one with a “going out of business sale” like we had found two years earlier for my oldest daughter’s wedding. ideas popped into my head but I dismissed most of them as unrealistic.
But there was one idea that I couldn’t dismiss as I thought about my mother’s wedding photos and her mode-like build, so similar to Marles’
Forty-five years earlier my mother had eagerly planned her own wedding. Each moth she saved whatever she could from her $100 pay cheque. Finally her saving grew large enough and she boarded a bus for the city, where the dress of her dreams awaited her. The ivory satin dress, with a flowing train, had lace panels inserted around the skirt. Tiny satin covered buttons covered the back of the dress. Matching buttons fastened delicate lace sleeves at the wrist. This elegant dress fit her tall, slim body beautifully. She saved enough to pay the sale price of $125.. . . . . .
A few days later I watched Marles lift the folds of satin from the shipping box. Her fingers caressed the softness as we examined the lace, noticing small tears in the fragile fabric. . . . . . The next morning we found an ivory lace with an almost identical pattern to the old one. . . . . .
Months later, Marles walked down the aisle with her satin train flowing behind her. Tears pooled in my eyes as I noticed the loving look that passed between my mother and my daughter. The fulfillment of two beautiful young women’s wedding dreams, forty-five years apart, was wrapped up in one gorgeous, ivory-coloured satin and lace dress.
Posted: October 9th, 2016 under Storytelling.