a pale yellow dress with a pleated skirt, white shoes and purse, white gloves and a yellow and white hat. The shoes had heels about an inch high. I was so thrilled that I could hardly fasten anything and Sis finally came to my rescue. When I was dressed, she looked at me and quietly whistled at me. I giggled and sat down so she could marcel my hair; then she expertly applied the makeup and I was ready for church. I thought I looked at least a sophisticated seventeen and told her so. I also told her I thought my hair was much too pretty to hide under a hat, but she assured me that ladies always wore hats when they were prop- erly dressed up. I sighed and let her put it on me. By the time she finished dressing, it was time to go. We looked at each other and she hugged me.

I took a deep breath, another peek in the mirror and went downstairs ahead of her. My Grandparents were waiting for us in the living room. G-ma always kept the window shades drawn in there to help keep it cool, so it was also a bit dark. As I walked in, G-ma looked at me and said, "G, where's the sissy?" I smiled and said, "I'm the sissy". She looked again and let a shriek out of her I'm sure the townfolks heard. She yelled at me and raised her fist as if to strike me. She called me all sorts of names and I just stood there until she ran out of things to call me. G-pa only said, "You make a nice looking girl, but that is hardly the right thing for a boy to wear to church. Don't you think you'd better go change clothes and wash your face again?” G-ma started in on me again and when she stopped for breath, I said, "Well, you started this by making me wear dresses last summer. I like to dress this way, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life as a girl. If we are going to church, let's go.' " G-ma screamed that she would never be seen with me dressed like that in public. We didn't get to church that Sunday.

After the tumult died down, G-pa said that I was a little young to decide what kind of a life I wanted, but if I made up my mind to be a girl, then I had better damn sure be a good one. I told him my mind was made up and that I was going to be a girl the rest of my life. G-ma even raised cain with Sis for helping me. Sis took some pictures of me, but before the roll was completed, her camera was stolen and we never got to see them. I spent the rest of the day dressed, being very careful not to soil 'my' dress. After all, it was my ‘Sunday Best' dress. G-ma was so mad she wouldn't even speak to me the rest of the day-which gave my ears a little rest. Years later G-ma and I laughed about it—but not that day. That night Sis and I agreed that we had taught G-ma a lesson she would never forget.

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