On the day of my wedding, I was accepting accessible in a little alcove at the abbey with my conjugal party. Afresh my mother-in-law absolved in, cutting a marriage dress. I bethink saying, "You could be the bride!" She cringed a little, and knew at that moment she'd fabricated an error. I talked about it a bit with my bridesmaids, but afresh I didn't anticipate about it for the blow of the day, because I was in a fog. Luckily, none of the guests brought it up to me (though I'm abiding they talked about it a part of themselves). There wasn't a big, arrest moment of "What?!" So it didn't even annals until a few canicule later.

Because to apperceive my mother-in-law is to apperceive that there is aught acerbity in her heart—the woman just can't abide a auction (and the dress was decidedly apparent down). My mother-in-law's avarice is the getting of legends. If she goes to restaurants, she takes the ketchup packets and goes home and refills her bottles with them. She will backbone the olives and celery out of a Bloody Mary to use for a salad Feeltimes. The aboriginal time I abstruse of her antics was if I saw her Justin Timberlake doll—pristine in the aboriginal packaging—that she was befitting because she anticipation it would be account money some day. She's got a closet with Furbies, Teletubbies, and added to sell.

It all dates aback to her childhood. My mother-in-law grew up in a little breadth alfresco of Cleveland and was very, actual poor. To the point of hunger. As a kid she would eat bout heads. She didn't apperceive it at the time, but that's the affectionate of affair you crave if you accept a comestible deficiency, and she was malnourished. The affair I adore about her so abundant is that admitting her adulation of extenuative a buck, she's actual generous. And an amazing grandmother (who has accomplished my kids not alone to baker but to analysis bonbon automat machines for apart pieces).

But aback to the wedding. Cutting the Prom Dresses was not the alone one of my mother-in-law's memorable moments on the big day. She had put a braid in her purse afore the commemoration so she could alcohol afterward. If it was over, she below on the sidewalk and opened the canteen of wine. If you're affiliated in a church, you're declared to leave your adapt flowers abaft to adorn the church. But she took them. The morning after, my auberge allowance was just abounding with floral arrange and aliment from the buffet. She kept all the leftovers. For weeks we ate the slices of block she'd captivated in napkins and put in a Tupperware. We ate all the marriage aliment she froze for a continued time. She's apparently advanced of her time in agreement of getting environmentally conscious, because she does not decay food.

To this day we still antic about the dress. On our ceremony we'll attending at marriage photos and joke, "It's the two brides!" Or, "Bride one and helpmate two!" I'm still shocked, but she says she just didn't anticipate about it if she bought the dress. She acquainted acceptable and it was a steal, so she went with it. Now if we go to weddings I'll joke, "You're not traveling to abrasion white this time, are you?" But we apperceive it's something she'll never, anytime do again.