The Red Dress

I was 5 at the time; my sister Vivian would have been 7. We both were attending the same school in Grinnell Iowa: Cooper Elementary. Cooper Elementary no longer exists but a newer Fareway store has been built over the site.

In those days, 1960, girls wore dresses to school. If for some reason the weather was bitterly cold, pants could be worn under the dress. There were strict dress codes for all students.

This must of took place after our mother left us; Dad had custody of 4 young children; he worked at Donaldson's factory in Grinnell while raising 4 kids in a cold, old farmhouse. During that first winter, Grandma Taylor came up from Missouri to help with the household chores and be there when we arrived home on the bus.

Vivian brought home a note from her teacher one day asking if she could stay after school. The teacher had said she would bring her home. Permission was granted. Discipline? Extra help on homework? No... shopping.

We don't recall the teacher's name, only the act. She took this little 7 year old, who probably didn't have a decent dress at the time, up town and bought her a simple red dress.

I have often thought of the impact this wonderful gesture by a kind, sensitive teacher must have made on this young child who must have missed out on a mother's fussing over her school clothes for her.

Reminder to me: Watch for opportunities to create a "Red Dress" moment in the lives of children. Acts of kindness to a 7 year old that needs a little extra love may become one the pillars that could shape a child's perspective all their lives.

I know... I remember... and I know my sister remembers.

Written by
Earl Taylor, Director of Design and Vision
Hidden Acres Christian Center, Dayton, Iowa
Hidden Acres is a youth camp and retreat center and is owned and operated by the Evangelical Free Churches of Iowa, South Dakota, and Missouri.