[ SHOWGSD-L ] The Tattered Dress
- From: Barbara Galasso <uwish@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 21:43:54 -0500
So I scratched my cornea of my eye last night and "wow" was that
painful. I had an ice pack covering my eye most of the night, read the
sad news about Gail last night before I went to bed. Got up this moring
and read the responses to that sad news and then got some more sad news
today about our friend Syd. So from last night to later today, I walked
around with a blood red eye that is in pain, a headache that seems to
want to linger a little bit longer than I would like and have been in a
blue mood today (very not me) because of the illnesses of our friends,
so I took a little nap (again very unlike me) and got up and sat at the
computer and I knew I needed to write to make be feel better.
THE TATTERED DRESS
by
Barbara J. Galasso
Lilly raised her little hand when the teacher asked a question about
geography. When Miss Adams acknowledged her, she asked her to stand up
and tell the class where the United States was located on the map.
Lilly went over to the map and pointed out that the United States was on
the North American continent. "Very good Lilly," Miss Adams said to
her. As Lilly turned to go back to her seat she heard the laughter and
whispers of some of her school mates. One of the more snotty girls said
loud enough for those around her to hear "look at that dress she's
wearing." "Why it looks like a rag." Lilly hung her head low as she
took the material of the tattered dress in her hands to look at it, and
slid back into her seat.
Going to school was difficult for Lilly because she was poor and the
other children would point and laugh at her all the time. She couldn't
wait for the school bell to ring at the end of the day announcing it was
time for the children to go home. She'd dash out of the class room and
quickly find a seat towards the front of the bus so she'd stay away from
the trouble makers that sat behind her.
Momma and her baby brother would be waiting for her along with their
German Shepherd who they called Buck. Lilly jumped off the bus steps
and Buck ran to greet her with his tail wagging and planted a big sloppy
kiss on her face. As the bus drove away, one of the boys yelled out the
window saying "that dog of yours looks just as bad as you do." Lilly
looked at Buck with his one floppy ear that hung to the side. He cocked
his head when she spoke to him saying "poppa always joked and said that
it added character to your looks." Lilly missed her daddy, and asked
her mother, "momma when's poppa coming back home?" "Lilly, I've told
you a hundred times already, daddy's at war because he's in the service
and he has a job to do." "Now come on let's hurry home so you can peel
the potatoes for supper, and I can get ready to go to work." Lillie
rushed ahead of her with Buck leading the way down the little dirt road
that led to their two bedroom bungalow.
Poppa would always write letters to the family and he would always
include a separate letter addressed just to Lillie. Lillie told her
father how the children would make fun of her and tease her about Buck
and her shabby clothes. Momma would do her best to buy something for
Lillie to wear from the second hand store. She'd wash and mend, and
iron her clothes but because they had such little money to live on,
Lillie would find herself wearing the tattered dress more often than she
cared to remember.
Every month the children had "show and tell" in their classrooms.
Sometimes the parent's were invited to the class, but Lillie's momma was
home taking care of her baby brother. And dad, well dad still wasn't
home yet. They were allowed to bring to class something of their
choice. One day Lillie whispered in Miss Adams ear, "is it alright if I
bring my dog Buck to class." Miss Adams smiled at the child and told
her as long as he's well mannered and gentle with the other children.
Lilly was so excited, she practiced Bucks sit and stay and down
commands. She'd show the other children who laughed at her and Buck
just how special her dog was.
When it was Lilly's turn at show and tell, she brought Buck to the head
of the class and made him sit and stay and then showed the class how
he'd lay down when he was told to and how he'd sit up and give her his
paw. Some of the children began to giggle and make fun of Lilly and
Buck. Buck just stood looking at them with his tail wagging and barking
as if to thank them for watching his performance. One of the boys from
the back of the room yelled out, "I don't know which is worse, that
ragged dress you always wear or that dumb looking dog you got there."
Miss Adams chastised Billy severely and told him to apologize to Lilly
right now. Before he had a chance to say anything, Lilly interrupted
him and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket from her tattered
dress. She told Miss Adams, "I'm not finished with my presentation
yet." "May I continue?" she asked her teacher. "By all means Lilly;
please do continue. But Billy you will apologize when Lilly is done."
Lilly went over to the map that Miss Adams had asked her about the
geography question all those weeks ago. She took the yard stick off the
chalk board and pointed to the United States with one hand and read from
the paper she held in the other hand. With her head up high she
proclaimed, "I am the daughter of a United States Marine who lives on
meager wages that our government gives him to send home to his family
every month. She reads her fathers words from his letter.
He tells her to tell them, "you're sitting in a classroom getting an
education, food in your tummies, a bed to sleep in and a mother to tuck
you in every night. We sleep many nights on the cold, wet, muddy ground
with a rifle to keep us company. We shoot and kill people and our
soldiers are shot and killed everyday as well. And it's all so you can
get your geography lessons, so your mom and dad can buy you new clothes
and so you can live in a nice big warm house. It's all so you can ride
your bikes without worrying about someone attacking our country again.
My daughters tattered dress is clean and paid for and she wears it with
pride because her daddy paid or it. That area of the map that my Lilly
is pointing to is called the United States of America, meaning let
freedom ring. Give us your tired, your poor and your hungry. One
nation under God and don't you forget it. I'm not laying in this mud
for nothing."
That dog you see standing next to my daughter, well his name is Buck and
he's a German Shepherd. Did you know that more German Shepherds are
used in the service than any other dog? And you know what it doesn't
really matter if the dog has a floppy ear or not, because they're the
smartest dog on earth. Floppy ear or not, he'd protect your sorry
little A--! (but Lilly stops at that last word before she says it
knowing she'd be chastised for using a curse word in class). So she
quickly says the word "backside". "Can I say the word backside" she
asks Miss Adams. "Looks like you already have," she tells her. So she
covers her mouth to hold back the giggle as she looks at the word her
father really wrote on the letter. Miss Adams finds a smirk escaping on
her lips as well.
Lilly continues to read her father's letter. "Now you children have a
nice day and remember where your freedom is coming from. Its men and
women like me who provide you with it. And you know what, because of
that freedom you can continue to make fun of my daughter and her dog
Buck if you choose to, or you can act like you deserve to be born in the
USA. It's your freedom I'm fighting for. So which one are you going to
choose?" The children sit in stunned silence. Billy begins to fidget
in his seat growing restless.
Miss Adams doesn't have to ask Billy to apologize. With a blush to his
cheeks and in a low embarrassed voice, he tells her he's sorry and the
whole class applauds and Buck wags his tail ever faster and barking as
the children come up to pat and embrace him. Lilly sits in the nearest
chair and watches as the children surround Buck who's enjoying all this
attention. She looks at her father's letter she's still holding in her
hand and says, "thanks dad for coming to class with me today. You
always were my hero." A picture of a marine in uniform falls from the
envelope onto the floor.
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