Dutch Costume

This essay was written as an example for my 8th grade ELA class. It was a pre-writing for our memoir work. I like it, so I'm sharing it here.

    My grandmother wasn’t the most cheerful old-lady you’ve ever met. She had a great laugh when she DID exercise it. It was kind of a bellowing “hu-yuk!” typically used by cartoon characters. When she was amused, she’d let you know it. Most of what Grandma knew was work.

    She’d started working in her mid-teens, dropping out of school to be a pie-baker in a diner. She made great pies. In the early 1900’s, girls’ expectations for education were much lower, I guess. She worked through her late teens, and, when she married my grandfather, opened a tailor shop in Grand Rapids. They worked hard, right through the Great Depression, and provided a home for their two daughters, even managing to buy a small home in Holland, MI and build it into something bigger.

    Though grandma never finished school, grandpa was very well read. He had been an Army officer. My mom graduated from college, and my aunt attended, too. Grandma’s grandkids were all well-educated, as were her in-laws. I think she was really proud of that.

    I also think it’s why she was often so quiet.

    After college graduation, I lived with my grandma for a little while while I looked for an apartment. She was in her early 90’s at that point. I was working at a restaurant, and a local Tulip Time festival meant big tips. I had an idea, which turned out to be a good one for reasons I didn’t expect.

    “Grandma? I think if I had a Dutch costume to wait tables, I could make more money. Could you help me make one?”

    “I’ll make one for you.”

    “No, will you TEACH me to make one? I want to learn how to sew.”

    If there was one thing my grandmother could add to my education, it was the value of work. She took to the task with eagerness, and we worked on it over the next week.

    “Be sure you line up the fabric so the pattern repeats on the inseam. Make sure the thread matches the fabric you’re sewing--small details stand out. Always measure twice, then you can use as LITTLE fabric as possible. Give yourself a little room at the waistband and cuffs, you can always make it shorter or smaller, you can’t make it bigger.”

    Grandma smiled the whole time we worked. I realize, now, years after the fact, that she was teaching me about more than sewing. Working at her dining room table with her ancient Singer sewing machine, I learned about how strong she was, and frugal. What an artist she was with a needle and scissors! I saw, maybe for the first time, that my Grandma was educated in ways it would take me years to understand. I saw a woman who sewed and baked her way through one of the hardest times in history.

    Grandma lived to a hundred and three. We were great friends, especially after the short time we lived together. I’d often visit, and bring a custard pie. We’d drink coffee, and I’d tell her about my new job as a teacher working with kids. I think she liked that, she smiled a lot more than I remembered.