The Pink Dresses

There are websites upon websites of clothing stores online. Any piece of clothing you can think of is right at your fingertips from the moment you type in yellow sundress to the moment you press enter and results come rushing in.

2,620,000,000 results in .48 seconds.

Packages come in, in as little as 4 days. You can even have them arrive earlier if you subscribe to prime. A dress that would cost 20 dollars in-store now costs $10.95 with free shipping!

The world is moving in fast motion and nothing is going to slow it down, no matter how hard some souls may try. Patience was now a thing of the past; a virtue.

As time progresses and technology becomes more prevalent, so do memories of the past.

~ 1969 ~

It was Mckenzie's 5th birthday and all of her family was coming down to visit and celebrate. The Beatles were playing on the radio filling the whole house with music and rhythm. While the kids played games, the adults chattered about the world that was ever so changing around them.

Soon it was time to slice the cake. Her mom had bought a Scooby-Doo themed one with Scooby and Shaggy smiling on top. The adults teased the kids by purposely cutting off the heads of Scooby and Shabby, making them shriek and laugh.

After everyone was almost stuffed with cake, Grandma Lu put a present in front of Mckenzie. Everyone went quiet and watched Mckenzie stare at the package in front of her. Mckenzie smiled at her grandma and started opening the gift. She then pulled out a pink dress with puffed sleeves, a collar, and a very wide skirt. Mckenzie stared at the gift barely being able to hide her excitement. She grinned so big and gave her granny the biggest hug while placing kisses all over her face.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaimed.

Her grandma hugged her back, "Of course dear, only the best for you!"

Everyone started passing the dress around amazed by the detail and craftsmanship. Mckenzie got handed plenty of other gifts that night, but none as special as her pink dress.

~ 1974 ~

Mckenzie didn't know it then, but her Grandma had made that dress from scratch using patterns and materials from her own store. On her 10th birthday, she got a sewing kit with different colored fabrics. Her grandma taught her all the techniques and stitches. 

From that day forward Kenzie promised herself that she was going to become a seamstress just like her Grandma. She was going to create her own store and sell dresses to the finest and richest people of America.

~ 1982 ~

Mckenzie was now a senior and was going to the prom in the Spring. She had gone shopping at the mall with her friends for dresses galore. Some were long, some short, and some just in between, which Kenzie thought was such an awkward length. As much as she loved making dresses, this year she wanted to buy her own. She also wanted a dress that was branded and not something homemade like she had gotten her whole life.

She then spotted the dress of her dreams. It was a long pink dress with ruffled sleeves and chest and a semi-wide skirt. She pulled it off the rack and tried it on. She swayed and turned in the dress, trying to get a look at it from all angles. She then smiled and turned to her friends from the mirror. They all shrieked with delight and told her she looked perfect.

When she got home she put the dress in her closet and stared at the detail and design. The way the stitching was seamless and how the glitter on the ruffles stayed in place even when touched. When she finally decided to close the door to her closet, her mother called her downstairs for dinner. What a beautiful gown.

It was the week before prom night and her grandma had decided to pay her a visit. She rushed down the stairs, always excited to see her granny. When she gets to the bottom of the stairs, Kenzie’s eyes travel down to her grandma’s hands, and her face drops.

"What is it? Is this a bad time?" Her grandma’s face slackens; her brows furrow.

"Oh nothing is wrong Grandma Lu," Kenzie said while walking over to her and kissing her on the cheek. "Nothing at all."

"Okay, for a second I thought you were not happy to see me." Her grandma's face lights up once again.

"That's silly, I'm always happy to see you," Kenzie said while slowly leaning her body against the wall and tapping her foot.

"Well, I thought I would come by and surprise you for your big day next week." She placed the cover on the wall and unzipped it to reveal a pink dress.

~ Present Day: 2021 ~

Orders had been busier than usual and business was booming. People from all around the world were excited to see the new styles and designs that were being put out weekly by Mckenzie and her crew. Every day, everywhere Mckenzie was rushing to get things down. Nothing ever had the chance to slow down, but when it did things always failed miserably.

She had not touched a needle and thread in years, for her skills in business and marketing were needed more than ever. She had hired hundreds of people and machines to do all of that work for her.

Her website had been put up years before but was just now being used more than ever.

Her mind was full of many thoughts and anxieties. Orders. Deadlines. Clients. Stocks. Pay. Schedule. Partners. Kids. Husband. Papers. Bills. Pink dress. Pink dress?

She stared at her computer screen and looked at the comment again.

My daughter loves the style of this dress but was wondering if you had it in pink. She said that she would definitely purchase it, but only if it was a pink dress. Thank you -Annebelle Leon

Pink dress. She got up from her desk and rushed up to the attic searching for something that had now resurfaced from the back of her mind. Pink dress. Pink dress. Pink dress. Pink dress. Pink dress.

"I found it!" Mckenzie screamed while holding it close to her heart. The smell. It smelled like her. Granny. Tears swelled in her eyes as all the memories rushed through.

"Don't hold the needle like that or you're always going to stab yourself," Her grandma laughed at her.

"I don't think there's ever gonna be a time when I don't stab myself," Mckenzie groaned and slumped back in her chair.

"Oh always such an attitude with you," she smiled and shook her head.

"Okay, okay how do you do it?"

"Do you not like it?" Her grandma asked, the same concern returning to her face.

"No, no, I do, I do." Kenzie sighs. "It's just I already got a dress for prom."

A silence fills the room.

"Oh well dear that's alright, we can always take that dress back to the store." She flashed Kenzie a smile.

"This dress is beautiful Grandma and I appreciate you making this for me, I really do, but I really want to wear the one I bought with my own money." She said, squeezing onto her Granny's hand.

"Oh. I see." She pauses. "I understand, no worries."

That prom Mckenzie went with the dress her grandma had made her.

"I GOT THE JOB! I GOT THE JOB!" Mckenzie screamed over the phone from New York City to her Grandma.

"That's wonderful, I'm so glad to hear it!!!" Her grandma said with just as much excitement.

"The pays wonderful and the clothing is so exquisite. They’re even letting me hand stitch a few myself!!"

"They better let you! You're the best seamstress on this side of the Earth!!" She chuckles.

"One day those lights are gonna say Kenzie and Lu." She smiled through the phone.

"I love you, dear."

"Hey grandma, guess what?" Kenzie says over the phone.

"Oh, what is it, spit it out, don't make an old lady like me do all the guessing," Granny says with a cheery tone.

"I'm getting married!!" She shrieks, moving her feet up and down like a toddler.

"To that John fellow?" Her grandma says.

"Yes, of course. Who else would it be?!"

"Oh I don't know, you have men chasing after your hand all the time, it's hard to keep track." Her grandma laughs.

"Grandmaaaaaa" Kenzie chuckles.

"Well I like this John fellow, he seems to treat you right."

"Oh he does, he makes me just so happy!!" Kenzie says with delight.

"I'm happy to hear that!! When are you planning on having this wedding?"

"What do you think about this one?" Kenzie twirls in the white mass of fabric.

"It's too- how do I put it? Meh." Her friend says while crossing her arms and sitting further back in the chair.

"Yea, your right." Hands-on waist. "And the price is out of this world."

"Next!"

"Oh, grandma! Just who I wanted to see!" Kenzie says while giving her a big hug and kisses all over.

"Well, I'm just as glad to see you!" Hugging her back.

Mckenzie sees what’s in her grandma’s hands and freezes.

"I made you a little something." She says while unzipping the cover. "It's a little different but I think it will be perfect for your big day.”

She takes out a white lace dress with an undertone of pink. It's absolutely stunning, but it was made by her Grandmother. Mckenzie loved her grandmother, more than the world itself. But this was her big day with her own things. Her own memories. She wasn't 5 anymore and she wanted to have a sort of independence that she never got to have.

"Oh grandma, it's beautiful," Kenzie says while tapping her fingers on her thigh.

"You think so? I just made it, because I know how much you love pink." She holds the dress up higher.

"It's perfect, but I already bought a dress from a shop," Kenzie says while letting out a big breath.

"Oh, you did.. I wish I had known earlier so I wouldn't have put you through so much trouble," Lowering the dress back down

"No no, I should have told you I had gone dress shopping already." She said while rubbing her arm with her hand.

"Well then, maybe I'll just sell it at my shop." The inner corner of her brows slowly raises, while her lips turn downwards.

"That's a wonderful idea, I bet it will sell for great!" Kenzie says while looking around the room.

Her grandma didn't have a shop anymore, because it had gone out of business. But she was suffering from dementia and didn't always remember that.

Mckenzie pulls the dress tighter in her arms and swells with more and more tears. If only she had known. If she had gotten a sign. She would have worn her grandma's dress. Her grandma would still be alive. She would have been happy.

Dementia was a killer disease and was always taking lives, they said. It wasn't her fault, they said. It was bound to happen, they said. But the day after her wedding. No, it was not a coincidence.

Walking downstairs, she picks up a needle and thread and sits on her couch. She starts weaving the thread together slowly and then starts gaining more speed as she remembers how to move her hands. It had been a long time since she last sewed.

Her husband walks into the room and sees her. He sits beside her like he always does every couple of years and watches his wife slowly remember the process all over again. He wraps his arm around her and shakes her shoulder. She found the pink dress again.