Today at the costume shop, a very well-outfitted, attractive, charming 70-something couple drove in from Kinston (a couple of hours away down east) to find her an outfit to wear at the benefit to celebrate the 100th anniversary of a children's home in Kinston, located in a Civil War-era house on 122 acres. She would be leading tours of the historic home and needed period-appropriate attire.
It's not unusual at all for us to help outfit doyennes from historical societies in a 100-mile radius for their celebrations, so I knew what I was doing. They both had limited mobility pains, so I brought the gentleman a stool to rest on while showing his wife different options to try on. When she stepped into the dressing room, he went with her to help dress and zip. I stood outside and she called out, in the most beautiful Southern accent people of that generation still have, "Honey? Do you mind coming in to help us?"
I stepped inside and immediately felt the palpable love and trust they had between them. We did this for three outfit changes and I fell more in love/charmed with her each time. She didn't even bat an eye at my blue hair and trusted my responses when she asked, "What do you think, young lady?"
After we found the very perfect early-20th century dress that completely flattered her figure and color, I started writing their rental contract and chatting with them about the fundraiser and charity.
"I was seven years old when I arrived there," she said. "There were four of us and I was the oldest. We had a horrible home life before the state stepped in and got us out. I still remember how wonderful it felt to have my own bed and a place to put my clothes, and I had no real clothes of my own before.
"Everybody had chores, and mine was sweeping the dining hall. My little sister wasn't kindergarten age, but she still remembers her first job -- taking a pan of melted butter and brushing the toast for breakfast.
"We rotated chores every three months so everybody learned all the jobs it took to be grownups. Of course, at the end of each three months, we all got anxious about which jobs we'd get assigned next, because some were more fun than others."
She asked me if I was old enough to remember Nancy Drew. "Yes, ma'am," I replied. "I loved Nancy Drew!"
"We called ourselves the Nancy Drew gang. When we had laundry job after school, we had a set number of shirts we had to do. Honey, to this day, I can iron fast and well, because when we were done, we could take off and run. We'd cut through the cornfields so no one could see us and go right on down to the river!
"We alumni are getting older, but we're looking forward to getting together for the reunion and sock-hop. Spending money here is the least I can do, I'll tell anyone I would do cartwheels across America to give back to them for what they did for me."
I had hot tears streaming down my face. She dabbed at her own before saying, "You need to wear waterproof mascara, honey."
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