This time of year always brings back memories of the excitement of starting another school year. No matter how well or badly the previous year ended, I believed that this year all my experiences would be wonderful; I was always optimistic.
A few weeks before school began, my mother would take us shopping for new first-day clothes. This was always one outfit each because with six kids that was all she could afford. But what an occasion it was. Because my mother didn't drive and didn't have a car to use anyway, we would take the bus into the big city. In those days there were no malls and all our shopping was done in the one store where my mother had an account. I don't know how she did it, but she managed to outfit all of us from underwear to shoes.
I remember one year especially when I was in junior high school. I found this beautiful wool plaid straight skirt that I just had to have for school. My mother let me buy it and then proceeded to help me find a matching blouse and cardigan to wear with it. I'll never forget dressing for that first day in my new clothes. My mother kindly suggested that maybe I should save the outfit for another day since the temperature was unusually warm for that time of year, but I wouldn't hear of it. I determinedly got dressed and went to school. As the day passed I got hotter and hotter in my wool outfit but I refused to take off even my sweater because I was sure the desired effect of my outfit would be ruined. I suffered through the entire day but went home secure in the knowledge that my outfit was the envy of all my classmates.
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