THE JOURNEY OF THIS DRESS...

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY; TAKE YOU ON A JOURNEY...THIS DRESS WAS ONE OF THE FIRSRT ARTICLES OF CLOTHING THAT I PREPARED FOR THE BIRTH OF MY FIRST CHILD, A DAUGHTER, WHO I WOULD NAME TORI TANIEL. I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE IN THE SPEARS FAMILY WHO WAS WAITING TO MEET THEIR DAUGHTERS...JEANINE, MY SISTER, WAS PREGNANT WITH CALLY. MARCI, MY SISTER IN LAW, WAS PREGNANT WITH SAMANTHA. SO, TOWARDS THE END OF MY PREGNANCY, SHYANN (MY LITTLE SISTER) AND MISTY (MY STEPDAUGHTER) COME AND LIVE WITH US...NEEDLESS TO SAY, I WAS OVERWHELMED. BUT, THATS A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY...

I DID, HOWEVER, DRESS TORI UP IN THIS DRESS, SHE COULDN'T EVEN SIT UP YET AND WE GO AND HAVE HER PICTURE TAKEN...NOT LONG AFTER THAT SHE OUTGREW THE DRESS AND I PASSED IT ALONG...BOTH OF MY NIECES WORE THIS DRESS, WHICH I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT AFTER ALMOST TWO DECADES. FAST FORWARD TO WHEN I AM TRYING TO GET CONTACT INFORMATION FOR TORI'S GRADUATION INVITATIONS AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, MARCI AND I ARE IN CONTACT AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS. SHE DIVORCED MY BROTHER LONG, LONG AGO AND HAD SINCE REMARRIED AND HAD TWO MORE GIRLS - WE EACH HAVE FOUR.

WE SAY HI, SHOOT BACK AND FORTH A FEW EMAILS AND ONCE AGAIN LIFE TAKES OVER. WHEN I DECIDED TO PUT TOGETHER THE WEIGHTLOSS BLOG, I SENT EMAILS OUT TO EVERYONE IN MY ADDRESS BOOK...MARCI RESPONDED THAT SHE WOULD LIKE TO PARTCIPATE AND I HAVE HAD THE WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE OF GETTING TO KNOW HER AGAIN. SO, ALL OF US NOSEY BLOGGERS LOVED WHEN SHE SHARED HER DAUGHTERS BABY SHOWER PHOTOS WITH US...AND WE ARE ALL TALKING ABOUT STUFF AND SHE SAY, "LEIGH ANN, I STILL HAVE TORI'S DRESS, THE BABY BLUE ONE WITH ALL THE RUFFLES..."
WEDNESDAY, I GET HOME AND THE TEARS START AS I OPEN THE PACKAGE AND THE YEARS FADE AWAY, AND TORI ISN'T IN PANAMA CITY ON SPRING BREAK, SHES IN HER CRIB, SAFE AND SOUND AND CLOSE...

MARCI, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I WILL SAVE THIS DRESS AND WHEN I SEE IT ON MY GRAND DAUGHTER, I WILL ONCE AGAIN KNOW HOW BLESSED I AM TO HAVE YOU IN MY LIFE!