May 19, 2020
Here is a story from my Mom’s youth that I compiled before she died in 2002.
Stories of our Youth from Mary Ellen Hall Hyde
Rowland, Mary, Peg, Gravatt, and John Hall
I Lost My Dress!
By Mary Ellen Hall Hyde (1920-2002) as told to her son Dan
One day I lost my dress in the woods. We were living on the farm in Peakes Turnout, Virginia a few miles outside of Richmond. Part of Dad’s 120-acre farm contained a large hardwood forest with a small stream. As a kid one of my chores was to fetch water from the stream for use up at the house. As kids, we played a lot in the woods and loved to swim in the stream.
Growing up with my two older brothers Rowland and Johnny, I was quite a tomboy. Three years older than I, Rowland was the ringleader and a lot of fun as he was always playing jokes on us. Being only a year older than I, Johnny was close to my age and my favorite. Whatever my brothers did, I wanted to do. For example, often in the woods we would swing from the top of a sapling to another as the former bent over. Once, my dress got caught in the first tree when I jumped to the second tree and I was trapped! I needed one of my brothers to climb the first tree to bend it down to release my dress. (No jeans for girls in those days!)
When I was seven, my brothers Rowland and Johnny dared me to go swimming in the nude. I did, and Johnny grabbed my clothes and ran into the woods with them. Unfortunately, in the chase that followed, Johnny dropped and lost my red and white sun dress with straps. Quite a predicament! Only clothes I had were a pair of panties. How to go home and face Mom? Mom was the no-nonsense type and she would not be at all pleased that I had lost one of my dresses. We didn’t have much money and Mom had cut out and sewn the dress for me herself.
For a long time my two brothers and I searched and searched the woods for the dress. When it was becoming close to dark, I sat down and cried. I knew I had no choice but to face Mom. My fate was probably the lilac switch on my bare legs!
My favorite brother Johnny reached over and gave me a big hug and told me that they would think of something. Johnny was intelligent and a great problem solver. After a short while he had a masterful plan. With a big smile on his face, he revealed his plan to us. When my Mom had purchased the cloth for my dress, she had enough material to make two dresses just alike. All he had to do was sneak into the house and find the other dress.
While I hid in the bushes, Johnny went into the house and found the other dress. When he returned, I slipped the second dress on and was able to get past Mom without her noticing anything different. Safe for now! But at some point, Mom would discover that a dress was missing.
Several days later, while combing the woods, we found the first dress. We told Mom “after the fact.”
Submitted by Dan Hyde