Two women in a small Chicago apartment.

One trying to free a stubborn zipper.

The other standing patiently in a bright blue dress.

Neither of us yet knowing what the day would bring.

For a long time, I wished I could return to that moment and warn us both.

Now I think I’d do something simpler.

I’d finish fastening the dress.

Tell my mother she looked beautiful.

And remind myself that anyone who couldn’t see her worth had no business deciding mine.