more days.

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During this time I was in seventh heaven. I made out a time table. Would they be gone how long? two days? or just a few hours. Then I would plan what to do. I would dress up in the most beautiful clothes my sisters had. I always was angry that they took the most pretty ones with them but still how could I blame them. The skirts of my oldest sister were tight at the waist but I always managed to button or snap them. Still once in a while I would break a button or snap. Then in desperation I would attempt

to mend them. Always later I heard Betty say; "Who has tried to fix this button?" Finally they would decide that a laundry or cleaners had goofed or just forget it....

Other items of my sister's female attire fit me more readily. Like sweaters! Sure, I stretched them out of shape, but they never seemed to guess. And the other things I needed I usually ordered or bought. Panty girdles and hose and bras. I padded the bra and girdle using anything I could find to wad up in the shape I needed. The hose of my sisters didn't fit so I had my own in the secret boudoir in my room. And then of course the high heeled patent shoes which were my hearts delight. For hair I usually used a scarf or a hat of my sisters. Oh how I wanted a wig, but in the catalogs I sent off for they were too expensive--two hundred dollars and more. And if some of the girl's clothes were discover- ed in my room I could say that I was hiding them for a girlfriend or something but a wig! Well really there was no answer for that one. So I satisfied myself with just fashioning a scarf around my head and trying to appear as feminine as possible. For makeup I, of course, had a ready, endless resevoir. The discards of my sisters alone were like a gold mine to me. They always discarded. the lipstick when it became short so I just screwed it out more or sometimes I melted it and ran several discards into a full empty tube and had a whole new lipstick all my own other items, rouge powder, mascara and eyebrow pencil I used discreetly so as not to cause suspicion.

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It took months for me to become skilled at looking feminine. I used an old box camera and took some pictures of myself. By using a string on the shutter I could pose and pull the string. The string showed in the photo, still it was alright. Later I used a black fishing cord that didn't show. Oh! how ingenious I thought. After I took several pictures in all the different clothes I could find, I carefully folded them or hung them back where they were in

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