WDM, IA - Patricia, the Seamstress and the Wedding Gown

I have a friend, who for this blog post will be named ‘Patricia.’ She and her husband have 2 weddings this summer, one for her daughter this July and one for her son in September. To say that she is busy is an understatement. And, as we all know, there are a million arrangements one must make for a perfect wedding. Most are going well but not all. There is the incident of the dresses.

She has bought two dresses, one for her daughter’s wedding and one for the son’s. Her daughter also, of course, bought a wedding gown. Since both dresses and the gown needed some alterations, she found a seamstress who had several good recommendations and went to her with the dresses and the gown. They tried them on, explained what they wanted and all was well.

Then they went for the first fitting. When the seamstress says as you enter:

‘I’m glad you are here since I’ve lost my copy of the measurements.’

You know you’re in trouble.

Sure enough, the daughter’s bustle on her wedding gown was high enough to hang a hat on. Meanwhile the mother’s dresses were so tight she couldn’t sit down. And - the seamstress had cut off the extra material. Mild-mannered Patricia, gathered the dresses and the gown up in her arms, told the seamstress that she had not met her expectations and walked out.

The kicker is that when they got home, the father of the bride and the groom were sitting around with their feet up, watching TV and enjoying an adult beverage. ‘How’d it go, honey?’ he said. Oops, big mistake.

You probably want to know the ending of the story. Well, it is a happy ending. Patricia found another seamstress who not only fixed the dresses and the wedding gown in record time but also ironed the gown which had been left a wrinkled mess.


Then there is the woman we met on our walk yesterday. She lives in our town home complex and was walking up her driveway with her mail when we met her. She’s quite lively and somehow the talk turned to her car. She had always wanted a gold Mercedes but her husband always had a reason for why they could not buy her Mercedes that year. He died about 5 years ago and, voila, she has a Mercedes.

She then cupped her hands around her mouth, looked skyward and said: ‘Hell-o-o-o-o. Mel, look in the garage.’

She does love her new Mercedes, although it is silver not gold, and here is how she parks it in the grocery store parking lot so it won’t get damaged.