It was July in 1944, and I had taken the 3:00 train to Chattanooga. I had just left my boyfriend at the Harriman station. He was being shipped to the South Pacific for the war, and I couldn’t stop crying. My brown print dress was feeling damp from the humidity, and I was on my second handkerchief to mop the tears and the sweat. The train stopped in Spring City, and I decided to get out and see if I could find a cool spot for the 15 minute stop. He was leaning against the ticket window with a big smile on his boyish face.
“How did…?”
“What are you doing here?” I managed to squeak out, and before I knew it, he was down on 1 knee, holding out a purple ring box.
“Will you marry me? It’s not much of a ring,” he said.
It was everything. And there I was in the limp, brown print dress.
YOU can buy the dress on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/194984752/vintage-1940s-home-sewn-cotton-dress?
