Noticing

She wore a navy blue dress that flared. There was

a wide red belt around her waist, which emphasized

the flare in the dress and her feminine figure, which at

that time was more trim then in later years. She wore

red high-heeled shoes and carried a red leather handbag

that matched the shoes. She wore a navy blue hat with a

brief net veil that came down just below her eyes and nose

and her gloves were navy blue.

Mom was careful about every detail of her appearance

and mine and Dad’s too. She straightened his tie; he

liked that. He cared about his appearance too.

I wore a yellow princess style coat with a yellow hat that

also had a brief veil coming down in front of my face. I wore

white see thorough nylon gloves and black patent leather

shoes and white socks. The coat had a row of yellow buttons

with just a touch of pink in them and there was pink in the

coat’s collar. I held a small black patent leather purse.

Dad wore a light beige suit and brown shoes. His tie was

wide against his starched white shirt. There was beige and

brown in the tie and a small gold tie clasp kept it in place

and centered on his shirt when his jacket was buttoned or

unbuttoned. We were pleased with the way we looked.

Mom wore her favorite perfume, “My Sin” by Lanvin. It was

a small gold bottle about the size of her lipstick container. The

the bottle top was black. And the image drawn into the gold

bottle was of two very tiny figures – one on its knees and the

other stooped over it in a kind of seated round position – as if

the scene were of a penitent and confessor. The robe of the

confessor engulfed the smaller penitent figure as if a pardoning

were taking place.

Mom wore bright red lipstick, and her hair was dark brown.

Dad had grey salt and pepper hair, very shiny in the sun.

My hair, blond originally, was turning into light brown. It was

shiny and shoulder length in a pageboy with bangs.

We were off to church on a Sunday morning in Soldier Pond.