When I saw my stepmother come into the living room wearing a dress identical to mine, I felt something inside me breaking.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just the same color.<\/p>\n
It was not similar.<\/p>\n
It was an exact copy.<\/strong><\/p>\n The same blue sky.<\/p>\n The same diani neckline.<\/p>\n The same fall of the skirt.<\/p>\n He had even copied the small hand-sewn details near the waist.<\/p>\n But Shirley had made a mistake.<\/p>\n As I walked to me smiling, convinced that I had just ruined the most important night of my adolescence, she didn\u2019t realize that Gary was already talking to the sound manager.<\/p>\n Nor did he see that the huge screen behind the scenes had just turned on.<\/p>\n Minutes later, almost two hundred people would find out where that dress had actually come from.<\/p>\n And Shirley would stop smiling.<\/p>\n But to understand why that meant so much to me, I have to tell you about my mom.<\/p>\n I was 15 when we got the news.<\/p>\n Cancer.<\/p>\n Terminal.<\/p>\n The doctors were careful to explain it.<\/p>\n My mom doesn’t.<\/p>\n When we were alone, he took my hands.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to be able to accompany you on all the things I dreamed of, my love.<\/p>\n I started crying.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t say that.<\/p>\n \u201cListen to me.<\/p>\n She wiped my tears.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe I can\u2019t be physically. But that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t leave you small parts of me for those days.<\/p>\n One of those \u201clittle parts\u201d was a dress.<\/p>\n My prom dress.<\/p>\n There was still a long way to go, but Mom insisted on doing it herself.<\/p>\n He chose a very clear blue cloth.<\/p>\n \u201cThis color makes your eyes shine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n There were days when I barely had the strength to get up.<\/p>\n Still, he sat in front of his sewing machine.<\/p>\n I asked him to rest.<\/p>\n \u201cMom, we can buy one.<\/p>\n She denied with her head.<\/p>\n \u201cDresses you can buy thousands.<\/p>\n Then he smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this one I want to do it.<\/p>\n Some nights I sewed just a few minutes.<\/p>\n Other times he had to stop because his hands were shaking.<\/p>\n But he went on.<\/p>\n Stitch for stitch.<\/p>\n Until it’s finished.<\/p>\n The last time I tried it in front of her, Mom stared at me without talking.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled as his eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing.<\/p>\n He approached and accommodated a part of the skirt.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just trying to imagine the woman you\u2019re going to become.<\/p>\n Eight days later, my mom died.<\/p>\n For months I couldn’t touch that dress.<\/p>\n I kept it carefully.<\/p>\n Sometimes he opened the closet just to see it.<\/p>\n It wasn’t clothes.<\/p>\n It was a goodbye.<\/p>\n Six months after the funeral, my dad surprised us with news.<\/p>\n He was getting married.<\/p>\n The woman was named Shirley.<\/p>\n And the worst thing was that I already knew her.<\/p>\n I was friends with my mother.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t understand how they had gone from sharing memories about Mom to talking about marriage so quickly.<\/p>\n But my father seemed happy.<\/p>\n And I was too tired of losing people to start another war.<\/p>\n Shirley moved into our house.<\/p>\n At first it was kind.<\/p>\n Too kind.<\/p>\n Then the little changes started.<\/p>\n A picture of Mom disappeared from the room.<\/p>\n Then another.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m reorganizing,\u201d Shirley explained.<\/p>\n A box of mother’s clothes was donated without asking me.<\/p>\n Her favorite cups disappeared.<\/p>\n A perfume that still retained its smell as well.<\/p>\n There were fewer and fewer traces of her.<\/p>\n And there was something even more uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Shirley couldn’t stand looking at me for too long.<\/p>\n One afternoon I heard a friend say to her:<\/p>\n \u201cThe girl is very much like her mom.<\/p>\n I saw Shirley squeeze her jaw.<\/p>\n I had the same eyes.<\/p>\n Some of his gestures.<\/p>\n Even the same way to smile.<\/p>\n And little by little I started to feel that Shirley didn\u2019t want to just take a place in our house.<\/p>\n I wanted us to forget who had been there before.<\/p>\n Three months before my graduation, I began to get too interested in my room.<\/p>\n We should organize your closet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay like this.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have too many things.<\/p>\n Several times he offered to clean it while I was in school.<\/p>\n One afternoon he even insisted:<\/p>\n \u201cGo out with your friends. I’m going to use a strong product to clean and I don’t want you to be breathing it.<\/p>\n Something seemed strange to me.<\/p>\n But I thought I was being paranoid.<\/p>\n Until the night of my graduation.<\/p>\n I pulled out the blue dress.<\/p>\n I held it in front of me.<\/p>\n For a moment I remembered Mom’s hands passing the cloth through the sewing machine.<\/p>\n I put it on.<\/p>\n When I looked in the mirror, I cried.<\/p>\n Not because I was sad.<\/p>\n For a few seconds I felt that Mom was still there.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you like the way I look,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n Shortly after, Gary arrived.<\/p>\n He was my partner.<\/p>\n Easy.<\/p>\n Smart.<\/p>\n The kind of guy I heard before I spoke.<\/p>\n When he saw me, he stood completely still.<\/p>\n \u201cIs that bad?\u201d<\/p>\n “No.<\/p>\n He smiled.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n I laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cThen don\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n And during the first part of the night I was happy.<\/p>\n We dance.<\/p>\n We took pictures.<\/p>\n My friends asked me about the dress.<\/p>\n I said to them,<\/p>\n My mom did it.<\/p>\n And every time I said it, I was proud.<\/p>\n Until the side doors were opened.<\/p>\n Some parents started to come in.<\/p>\n I was talking to Gary when I heard several murmurs.<\/p>\n I turned.<\/p>\n And I saw her.<\/p>\n Shirley.<\/p>\n I felt my face freeze.<\/p>\n She was wearing a blue dress.<\/p>\n My blue dress.<\/strong><\/p>\n Or rather…<\/p>\n a copy.<\/p>\n Shirley walked slowly, enjoying every look.<\/p>\n Several people turned from her to me.<\/p>\n Then again to her.<\/p>\n Gary frowned.<\/p>\n What is going on?<\/p>\n I couldn’t answer.<\/p>\n Shirley came to us.<\/p>\n She looked at my dress from top to bottom.<\/p>\n Then he smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cWow.<\/p>\n I walked over.<\/p>\n Where did you get that dress?<\/p>\n I sent him to.<\/p>\n How exactly did they know how to do it?<\/p>\n His smile grew bigger.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not the only person who looks good on blue.<\/p>\n Then I understood everything.<\/p>\n The evenings \u201ccleaning\u201d my room.<\/p>\n The hours I had spent alone near my closet.<\/p>\n The times he insisted that I go out.<\/p>\n I had photographed the dress.<\/p>\n He had probably taken action.<\/p>\n Then I had paid for someone to copy it.<\/p>\n You knew what this dress meant to me.<\/p>\n Shirley leaned slightly.<\/p>\n Only I could hear her.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s time to stop turning everything into a monument for your mother.<\/p>\n I felt like I was short of breath.<\/p>\n I looked at my father.<\/p>\n It was close.<\/p>\n I had heard.<\/p>\n I waited.<\/p>\n I just needed him to say,<\/p>\n \u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n One word.<\/p>\n Anything.<\/p>\n But he lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n I’m sorry, daughter.<\/p>\n That was it.<\/p>\n I felt the tears.<\/p>\n I didn’t want to cry in front of Shirley.<\/p>\n So I walked to the exit.<\/p>\n Then Gary gently took my arm.<\/p>\n \u201cWait.\u201d<\/p>\n I want to go.<\/p>\n I know.<\/p>\n He looked at Shirley.<\/p>\n But give me five minutes.<\/p>\n \u2014Gary…<\/p>\n Trust me.<\/p>\n Before he could stop it, he walked straight to her.<\/p>\n I thought I was going to face her.<\/p>\n He didn’t.<\/p>\n He smiled.<\/p>\n Mrs. Shirley.<\/p>\n She turned.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer dress is amazing.<\/p>\n His face changed immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you so much.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing something special to recognize some parents tonight. Could you go with me on stage?<\/p>\n Shirley looked around.<\/p>\n All the attention I had come looking for was finally on her.<\/p>\n \u201cSure.<\/p>\n He followed him.<\/p>\n I didn’t understand anything.<\/p>\n Gary took her to the center of the stage.<\/p>\n Shirley stood under the lights as if she were waiting to receive a prize.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n