Chapter 19 - THE LABEL BESIDE THE DRESS
The fashion museum reopened its Mercer & Reed exhibition.
The midnight-blue gown stood inside the central gallery.
The old plaque had been removed.
The new one read:
MIDNIGHT GOWN, 1985.
DESIGNED AND MADE BY ELEANOR MORROW.
CREATED WITH THE MERCER & REED TAILORING WORKERS.
THE DESIGN LAUNCHED THE MIDNIGHT COLLECTION AND SAVED THE COMPANY FROM INSOLVENCY.
OWNERSHIP CREDIT WAS FRAUDULENTLY REMOVED UNTIL 2026.
Mom stood before the case.
A group of schoolchildren gathered nearby.
One girl read the plaque aloud.
“Why did they remove her name?” she asked the teacher.
Mom answered.
“Because they thought they could.”
The girl looked at her.
“Are you Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get the dress back?”
Mom smiled.
“I got the name back.”
The answer mattered more.
The gown remained in the museum under independent ownership.
Mom could have kept it inside her home.
She wanted the public to see both the beauty and the record.
Ava placed the brass cabinet key inside a smaller display.
Beside it lay the pearl earring wrapped in pale blue thread.
May you like
The old photograph showed Mom standing between Henry and Samuel.
This time, no one had been cut out.
