Page 107 - Philly Girl

Philly Girl 91

Dear Mila

I always wanted a girl. Everyone who knows me knows this. I
never had a daughter, but now I have a granddaughter. I love
buying dresses for little girls! I especially love buying dresses
for you, Mila. I have explained this fixation to your parents:
it’s not that I have this idea of girls as frilly Disney princesses.
It’s that, when I was a little girl, I got one new dress a year. I
got it in September, for my birthday, and it was to be worn
on the first day of school. It was purchased at the famous and
historic Wanamaker’s department store. My one dress a year.
When you read this, I will be gone. Maybe, though, you
will read about my resistance to being categorized, tamped
down, demoralized, undone, or diminished. I don’t neces-
sarily advocate lying or forging signatures unless it is the
only means necessary. Which it was for me. I do advocate
you continue to do the things you love to do. Right now it’s
reading, building, drawing. Do all the things you love to do,
Mila—with gusto, with heart, with joy.
You were born into a family with much creativity and
an abundance of mechanical ability as well. My dad was an
excellent cartoonist and writer. Your grandfather Dennis’s
dad built his house from the ground up while raising four
children. He also was a calligrapher. His wife, your great-
grandmother, Theresa, loved to arrange flowers. Maggie’s
dad is famous for his humorous writing and wit. Your Nana
Jeanne has a passion for animals and liberal causes. Grandpa
Dennis, Uncle Sam, and your dad, Jesse, can draw anything
and build anything. They are logical and focused thinkers. I