Alas!! I always wanted a poodle skirt when I was in about 5th and 6th grade. So my mom bought me a red flannel skirt. The right shape…but missing the rather important poodle. And I longed for a crinoline that would make the crinkle noise when you moved. My mom bought me a mesh-like flared half slip. (sigh….) No noise. And I so wanted saddle shoes like the cheerleaders wore — narrowish black and white saddles with little perforations around the saddles. My mom bought me good sturdy Buster Browns — brown clunky saddles, no perforations. And yet life was good!!
And –oh, my gosh! In 4th grade my mom wanted to sign me up for violin lessons at school, but I talked her into piano lessons. We did not have a piano so, for 3 years, I practiced after school on an old piano there as well as on my cardboard keyboard (which, of course, made no noise) and once a week at a neighbor’s. No more lessons as of 7th grade, but when I was 14, my mom finally bought a piano. Still have it today! Never became a virtuoso, but I loved to play over the years.
My dad died when I was just over a year old, so my mom had to be my everything. I miss her!