That Little Girl

Suzanne had just gotten home from school on a crisp October day when I snapped the above picture. She was in the front yard of our home in Normal, Illinois, standing beside a tree she helped her dad plant.

When I think of her at 10, I always see her in this dress, dashing into the house, bubbling over with excitement about something that happened at school.

I'm waxing nostalgic today; I came across a box containing some of her little dresses. For years, I carted them with me in my moves across the country and back. Along with her crib, which Chase slept in twenty-one years later.

I gave away most of Suzanne's clothes as she outgrew them, but I couldn't bear to part with that school dress. And I couldn't bear to part with the long dresses she wore when she participated in various church and school programs. She wore the pink dress when she sang a solo from The Sound of Music in a school program. One of Suzanne's best-kept secrets is her lovely singing voice. (Sorry, sweetie...just couldn't help myself!)

This white eyelet dress was handmade by her Great-Grandma Williams, a neat little woman who lived in a neat little house in Ina, Illinois.

When people ask me why I am saving Suzanne's dresses, I tell them I'm sentimental. And I am. But I must admit there is another reason. I sometimes entertain the thought that Chase just might someday present me with a great-grandchild. Maybe a little girl. Just like Suzanne.

So I guess that little girl is who I'm saving them for.