A Big Year for Lily (15 page)

O
n a rainy afternoon, Mama spread several yards of fabric on the kitchen table. Lily watched as she placed patterns on top of it and carefully cut all the way around them.

Lily's birthday was just a few weeks away, and Mama was making new clothes for Lily. New clothes fit for a ten-year-old. Turning ten was the most important birthday in an Amish girl's life, and Lily could hardly wait. She would no longer wear loose-fitting dresses with buttons down the back. She would never wear a full-length apron again. Finally, she would be old enough to wear a dress that pinned in the front. Her dress would have a cape and apron. Becoming a grown-up was something Lily longed for. She was sure she would feel much, much older, more mature and ladylike, once she no longer had to wear dumb little-girl dresses.

Mama took the fabric pieces she had cut and sat down at her treadle sewing machine. Lily watched happily as her new
dress took shape. As soon as Mama had finished sewing the seams, Lily tried it on. She stood quietly while Mama measured the skirt and pinned the bottom for the hem. She felt so strange in this new style of dress. Strange and wonderful. A wonderful kind of strange.

As soon as the cape and apron were sewn, Mama had Lily try them on and helped her stick the pins into the fabric to hold it all together. Lily had watched Mama put pins in her dress. It looked easy. But when she tried to do it, she poked herself. When she finally got some pins in, they were crooked. This was harder than it looked. Mama smiled and helped straighten out the pins. When the last pin was put in place, Lily ran to find a mirror.

Why . . . she did look different! Lily felt so grown-up with a cape around her shoulders and an apron belt pinned snugly at her waist. Mama came up behind Lily in the mirror, her eyes softening at the sight. Lily was sure she knew what was running through Mama's mind:
How sad that I only have one little girl. And
so
many boys.

Then the moment passed and Mama was back to business. “After you change into your everyday dress, you can go play with your brothers. I'm going to try and get one more dress sewn while Paul is napping.”

As Lily unpinned her lovely new dress, she wondered how she could possibly wait to wear it until her birthday.

Lily jumped out of bed the minute she heard Mama's soft footsteps in the kitchen. Today was her birthday. Today she was ten years old! She dressed and ran downstairs. She didn't want to miss a single moment of this special day.

Mama smiled when she saw Lily at the door. “Good morning!” She gave Lily a quick hug and said, “Happy birthday, my little lady.”

Up until today, Mama had called her “my little girl.” Lily grinned. “Little lady” sounded so much more grown-up than “little girl.”

Lily set the table and made sure she put the special birthday plate at her place. Even better than the plate was that she wouldn't have to eat porridge today. Mama had bought a box of cornflakes for a special treat and Lily could hardly wait to pour them in a bowl and eat them.

Papa came in the kitchen door from the barn and set the pail of Pansy's milk on the floor beside the sink. He gently pinched Lily's cheek and said, “Happy birthday, Lily.”

During breakfast, Lily made sure that Joseph and Dannie knew how much she was enjoying her cornflakes. She'd nearly finished her second bowl and was considering a third. “Can I wear my new dress to school today?” she asked between spoonfuls.

“Not yet,” Mama said. “You can wear it to go to church next Sunday when you sit with the other girls.”

Lily pondered Mama's comment as she poured her third bowl of cornflakes. She was disappointed to have to wait to wear her new dress. But she was happy to think about sitting with the girls for church. Cousin Hannah, Beth, and Effie had already turned ten and had been sitting with the girls instead of with their mothers. Finally, Lily could join them. She felt a pinch of pity for Malinda, whose birthday wouldn't come until summer. Just a pinch, though. Mostly, she was glad she wasn't the youngest girl.

“I want you to hurry home right after school today,” Mama
told Lily as she and Joseph picked up their lunch boxes for school. Mama didn't explain why, but Lily hoped that meant there was going to be a birthday celebration tonight.

All day, Lily had a hard time concentrating on her school lessons. She kept thinking about the new dress, just waiting to be worn. Her mind drifted off to wonder what gifts Papa and Mama would give her this year. Since she was practically a grown-up, she was sure the gifts would be grown-up, too. Like a box of crayons with hundreds of colors. Was there such a thing? She hoped so.

As soon as Teacher Rhoda dismissed school for the day, Lily grabbed her lunch box and started running up the road. She didn't even wait to say goodbye to her friends. Not today. There would be no dawdling to look at flowers or watching the water run in the little stream beside the road. She was too excited.

Lily burst into the kitchen and found Grandma Miller and Aunt Susie hard at work, helping Mama. Grandma decorated a cake while Aunt Susie peeled potatoes. Dannie stood on a chair next to Grandma. Lily saw him swipe bits of frosting whenever he thought she wasn't looking.

“Happy birthday, Lily,” Grandma and Aunt Susie said at the same time, as if they had rehearsed it.

Aunt Susie's brow wrinkled in a frown. “Where is Joseph?” She was a worrier.

“He was too slow today,” Lily said. “I ran all the way home without him. He'll be here soon.”

As if on cue, the door banged and Joseph blew into the kitchen. Right on his heels was Cousin Hannah. “Lily, why didn't you wait for us?” Hannah asked.

“I didn't know you were going to come home with me today,” Lily said.

“It was going to be a surprise,” Hannah said. “I was going to walk all the way home with you but you were running too fast. I couldn't even catch up with you.” She looked and sounded very disappointed.

Not fair! How could Lily have known? Just as she braced herself to prepare for Mama's scolding about running ahead, she saw a slight smile on Mama's face. She understood! She realized how important it was to turn ten.

It wasn't long before other relatives started to arrive. The Lapp home was a jumble of noise and happiness. Lily liked all the chatter and laughter that filled the house as the women visited with each other while preparing supper. Papa stopped his day's work early and sat in the living room to talk with the men. The children played with the toys in the toy box in the corner of the kitchen.

Delicious smells filled the air and soon Mama called everyone to gather at the table. Mama had made all of Lily's favorite foods: fried chicken, fluffy mashed potatoes topped with browned butter and sprinkled with parsley, fried green beans with bacon bits, and golden flaky biscuits. Lily would be served first tonight because it was her birthday. She gazed around the table at the faces she loved and felt so happy.

Mama cut the chocolate birthday cake while Aunt Mary went down to the basement and came back with boxes of vanilla ice cream. A special treat! As soon as the cake and ice cream were eaten, Mama placed a big package and a small package in front of Lily. “Happy birthday,” she said.

First, Lily opened the big package. It was a new black sweater to wear to school. The schoolhouse could be cold during spring, when Teacher Rhoda didn't always use the coal heater. She put the sweater on and spun around. “Thank you, Mama.”

Lily opened the little package and found a cute heart-shaped ceramic dish with a lid. “You'll need something to keep your pins in since you will be wearing new dresses,” Mama said.

How pretty it would look on top of the dresser in Lily's room. How grown-up!

“There's something else in the box,” Mama said.

At the bottom of the box, Lily found a small stack of envelopes and a booklet of stamps.

Mama smiled. “You are old enough now to have your own circle letter.”

Oh my. Oh my goodness! Lily was delighted. Mama had many circle letters and Lily had wanted one of her own for a long time. She would write her first letter tonight after everyone had gone home.

But first . . . there were more presents to come.

Grandma handed Lily an envelope. Inside was a birthday card, and inside of that was a crisp twenty-dollar bill. It fell onto her lap. She gasped and picked it up. She felt rich! She had never before, not in her entire life, had a twenty-dollar bill of her own. She'd never even held one in her hands!

“I wanted to buy fabric for your mother to make a new dress for you,” Grandma said. “But I didn't get to town this week. I decided you might like to choose your own fabric if I gave you money to buy it.”

Imagine that! Lily would go to the fabric shop and choose the material for a dress, all by herself. Just like Mama! She knew she would choose a purple fabric. “Oh, thank you, Grandma,” Lily said.

Uncle Elmer and Aunt Mary gave Lily a new book,
The Mystifying Twins
. Lily turned it over and read the back cover
copy: “Twin sisters pretend to be each other and end up in a lot of mischief.” She was happy to have another book to add to her growing collection. On the inside cover, Aunt Mary had written in her very excellent cursive handwriting that only Lily could read (because Joseph wasn't old enough to read cursive):

To our Lily with our love, Aunt Mary and Uncle Elmer, Levi, Hannah, and Davy

Uncle Jacob started to chuckle. “I'm not sure if I should give you our present,” he said as he handed Lily a small paper bag.

Lily opened it and drew out a book,
The Mystifying Twins
. The very same book! Of all the books in the world, it was amazing to think both aunts had bought her the same book.

“It must be a really good book if you need two copies of it,” Papa said.

“I can get you a different book,” Aunt Lizzie said.

Lily read the inscription inside the front cover. Aunt Lizzie had nice handwriting too. Not quite as fancy as Aunt Mary's, but close.

To Lily, From Uncle Jacob and Aunt Lizzie on your tenth birthday

At the bottom, Aunt Lizzie had penned a little poem:

When the sun of life is setting

And your hair is turning gray

May you be the same sweet lady

As the girl you are today.

Lily looked up. “If you don't mind, I'd like to keep them both.” These inscriptions were much too special to give up.

“You're welcome to keep it,” Uncle Jacob said, “if you're sure you want two of the same book.”

“I'm sure,” Lily said. She was absolutely, positively sure.

Her last gift came from Joseph and Dannie. They handed her a piece of paper that said: “We got you two gifts. One, we'll wash dishes for a week. Two, we'll dry dishes for a week.”

“But will it be the same week?” Uncle Elmer asked and everyone laughed.

The men went back into the living room to visit while the women cleared all the food and dirty dishes away. All but Lily. She wasn't expected to wash and dry dishes on her birthday. After the last dish was put away, Grandma looked at the clock and said, “Well, I think it's time to start for home.”

Soon, the noisy house turned quiet again. The only sound Lily heard was the creak of Papa's rocking chair as he rocked Paul to sleep.

“Mama, can you help me get my circle letter started?” Lily asked.

Mama pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. “Yes, I have time right now. First, pick nine of your friends whom you want to include in the letter.”

Lily had to think that over. “Definitely Beth and Cousin Hannah.” Definitely
not
Effie Kauffman. Mandy Mast from New York came to mind, even though Mandy had been a sore trial to Lily. As sore a trial as Effie.

“That's a good start,” Mama said. “It might be nice to add some of your cousins whom you don't know very well. It would give you a chance to get to know them better.”

Mama helped Lily chose several girl cousins who were close in age. She had sixty-five cousins, but most were much older or much younger or were boys so they didn't count. Mama found all the addresses Lily would need and made an address sheet. Lily's name and address was the first one, then Mandy Mast's. One by one the other girls' names and addresses were added.

Lily wrote a newsy letter, tucked it into an envelope along with the address sheet and sealed it. Tomorrow she would put it in the mailbox. In a month or so, Mama said, she would get an envelope filled with letters to read. Just like Mama did. Then Lily would take out the letter she had written and start a new one to send on with all the other letters. It would make circle after circle, always bringing new letters to read from her friends.

Later, Lily snuggled deep under her covers. She would never forget this day. It was the best birthday she had ever had. After all, a little lady turned ten only once in her life.