Thankful

by Sarah Earlene Shere, ©2023 

(Nov. 10, 2023) — [See Part 1 here.]

Cassandra smiled at her reflection as she held the yellowed wedding gown up in front of her. The big day was finally here! It wouldn’t be the same without her father there. But her uncle had agreed to walk her down the aisle; in fact, he had called it his honor. She knew she would miss her mother, too, especially when getting herself ready for her presentation.

Suddenly, the aroma of the turkey cooking downstairs entered the attic and caressed her slight nose. She breathed in deeply and exhaled with a sigh. She was glad she had decided to get married on Thanksgiving day, as her parents had done. She couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the day of gratitude to God for His bounteous blessings than to have an intimate ceremony in the parlor with family and friends and immediately gather together, afterwards, in the dining room for a feast.

Cassandra’s thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of her two college friends. With excited chatter, they drew her toward the stairs, gathering the gown up into her arms. In her own room, they made haste to help her dress. At the last, the friends scrambled to find the forgotten items of “something old…new…borrowed…blue” and despaired that no penny was found for their friend’s shoe.

It was finally decided that Cassandra’s wedding dress was “borrowed,” as it had been her mother’s; it would, also, have to pass as the “something old.” The “new” was her veil. One friend tied a “blue” ribbon around her bouquet. They would have to go without the penny in her shoe.

When the friends had left the room, a glimmer of gold, peeking out from the side of her wooden jewelry box, caught her eye. The box had been her mother’s, who had told her that the box had a secret compartment that she would someday show her child how to open. The mother passed before she could reveal the secret to her daughter. Cassandra had never been able to find the way to open the door. But now, there it was, opened, showing off a gold locket, with a picture of her parents inside. With tears filling her eyes, she put on the “old” locket.

Taking her place with her uncle at the top of the stairs, they looked down to see a shiny penny at their feet. Smiling, her uncle picked it up and slipped it into her shoe. Straightening himself beside her, he knowingly whispered, “They’re here with you.”

Cassandra nodded with a smile. “I know.”