Another sixteen

Written by Dorothy Howard Adler 8/9/85

Was she 16? Or only 15? Maybe you should ask her. It was summer, the season for transparent apples and mowing.

Auntie had purchased a new home. Dad and I have volunteered our help.

Some weeks earlier I had purchased a length of material. It was predominantly red flowered with a scattering of blue and yellow flowers on a white ground. It lay neglected in a drawer-almost forgotten. On the eve of moving day Miss Sixteen asked if she might have the material. She was near enough to my size to use the same pattern, so she asked to borrow one I had recently used. The next request was to try on my dress so she could see where to alter the pattern.

Next morning bright and early Dad and I were off to Ft. Wayne. By noon we were all tired and hungry, so we went – as we were – to the mall. We lunched at MCL, and as is usual when one goes “as is” we saw several friends. They were too polite to mention our less than immaculate attire, so we decided to venture further afield. Patterson Fletcher was the next stop.

There we saw the handsome brown wool suit. It was Dad’s size. With a little arm-twisting he bought it. Then I found two pairs double knit pants, also his size. He protested but bought both pairs.

Then it was back to the task at hand. By evening Auntie was fairly well settled so we headed for home.

Daughter had a nice surprise ready. She had cold packed a canner of applesauce. She had helped before, but this was a solo.

Then questions about her dress. Yes, she had started it. Would I try it on? I protested that, too, as it didn’t need to fit me. Her will prevailed – she just wanted to see how it is going to look. So on with the dress. It fit me perfectly! And was all finished except for the hem and sewing cuffs on the sleeves. She wasn’t quite sure she had the correct length.

I wore the dress with a great deal of pleasure, and we enjoyed every bite of the sauce.

As a postscript. I might add that the dress was set off by my red “macaroni” belt, but that is another story. It was a perfect match.

Ray Adler is a longtime attorney with offices at The Adler Building, 136 S. 9th St., Downtown Noblesville. He is also one of the owners of The Hamilton County Reporter Newspaper.