Building Bridges

Getting Ready

Once she'd found the perfect pearls, Anna stepped back to get a good look at the masterpiece that was her daughter. From head to toe, Josie was her mini-me, but her big heart and poise were all Catherine.

The minute they'd pulled the pale pink gown from the layers of crinkly tissue paper in the old hope chest in the attic, Josie knew exactly what to do. She'd raced downstairs and grabbed a framed photo from the bookshelf in the living room and came flying back up to the attic.

"This is the same dress!" She was breathless, bouncing with excitement as she held out the frame. "Grams wore it to prom with Gramps! Can I wear it tonight? Please??"

Anna's heart crumbled when she remembered the Spring Fling at the Veteran's Center. It was an annual event that Catherine's dad looked forward to, and he always joked about having the three hottest dates in the place.

Hadn't Catherine told Josie the dance was cancelled because of the virus? Like almost every other business in the country, the Veteran's Center had closed its doors indefinitely to help stop the spread of COVID-19. With social distancing and stay-at-home rules in effect, and because the older population were at such high risk of acquiring the disease, there would be no dance this year.

"Honey, you can wear it, and I'll even fix it up so it fits you," Anna said. "And we'll do your hair and makeup and everything. But there isn't going to be a dance this year. That's why we're doing this attic cleaning party today instead."

Josie's face fell. "I almost forgot for a minute," she sighed.

But somewhere behind those blue-grey eyes, an idea formed, and just like that, her smile returned. "I know what we can do! We can just have a virtual dance. Gramps can Skype."

Anna thought for a moment and nodded slowly. "I like how you think, kiddo. Let's make that happen."

And here they were, just a few hours later, with a perfectly-fitted, well-accessorized outfit, an absolutely ecstatic little girl, and a clean attic, too.

"Photo shoot?" Josie asked after she checked the mirror one last time, proud of her grown-up appearance. She didn't always get to wear make-up, usually just a little lip gloss, but tonight she had real lipstick and mascara and everything!

"You know your mom would destroy me if we didn't send her at least a dozen pictures!"

Josie was a natural in front of the camera. "You need to stop growing up so fast," Anna gave her a big hug as they reviewed the images. "When did you get so gorgeous?"

"I look just like you!" Josie laughed.

It was time to turn the living room into a dance hall. They dug through the holiday decorations and settled on strings of tiny white lights from Christmas and pink hearts and streamers from Valentine's Day, along with two stuffed rabbits from Josie's room, since it was the first day of spring, after all. Between the bunnies, they placed a bright yellow posterboard that proclaimed, "Spring Fling" in glitter letters - their art project for the day.

Anna found her own pink dress, since Josie insisted they match, curled her shoulder-length beach-sand blond hair and pinned it back on the sides, and added her favorite dark red lipstick. A few more pictures sent to Catherine and posted to Facebook for Anna's family and all of their friends to see, and they were ready.

"Gramps has no idea, right?" Josie asked. "It's a surprise?"

"All I told him was to be decent for a video chat after dinner," Anna assured her.

"Eew, Mama, I don't want to think about Gramps not being decent!" Josie giggled.

"Are you ready?" Anna asked, reaching for the laptop on the coffee table as she sat down on the couch.

Josie nodded excitedly, then shook her head. "No, wait! Alexa, play old people music!"

Anna laughed. "I think you'll need to be a little more specific."

"Alexa, play jazz," Josie tried again. That was her grandfather's favorite, and some of it was fun to dance to, even if it didn't always make a lot of sense.

The music started, and Josie nodded. "Now I'm ready." She tapped her white kitten heels on the floor as they waited for George Delaney to connect.