I sewed my prom dress from my dad’s army uniform to honor him — my stepmother mocked me until a military officer knocked on the door and handed her a note that made her turn pale. My mother died while giving birth to me. After that, it was just my father and me. Later, my father remarried a woman named Camila. She already had two daughters from a previous marriage. Camila was kind to me only when my father was home. He was in the military, and whenever he returned to duty, she became distant and cold toward me. But I had my father, and that was enough for me. Six years ago, my father died while serving. My heart was broken. After that, Camila and her daughters took off their masks, and suddenly I became their maid — the one who had to clean up after them and cook for them. Camila kept saying I should be grateful that she was raising me instead of sending me to an orphanage. There was nothing I could do about it, so I just waited for the day I would finally leave for college. My father had dreamed of being at my prom, and I knew that. So a few months before it, I found his military uniform that I had kept in my closet and decided to sew a dress from it. I spent a month quietly sewing it in my room. When the night of prom came, I walked downstairs wearing the dress. Camila stared at me and started laughing. “Oh God, you think you made a dress from your father’s uniform and that it actually looks good?” Then one of my stepsisters suddenly exclaimed: “What, working part-time as a waitress wasn’t enough to buy a normal dress?” The other one laughed too and said: “It looks like you’re wearing a rag. Although that’s totally your style.” Tears started running down my face. Just then, there was a KNOCK at the door. Camila opened it, and a military officer was standing on the porch. He said he had to deliver something to her from my father — on this very day. IT HAD BEEN MY FATHER’S FINAL REQUEST. The officer handed her a NOTE. She opened it immediately, and after the first line, her hands started shaking, and all THEIR LAUGHTER SUDDENLY STOPPED.

Just three nights before the big event I nearly abandoned my secret project because my fingers ached and my stitches were far from perfect. However when I finally tried the finished dress on and looked in the mirror I felt a powerful connection to my father that gave me immense strength. The evening of the dance arrived with chaotic energy as Camila barked harsh orders while Lia and Jen argued loudly over their expensive accessories. I walked downstairs wearing my handmade olive dress fastened with a military tie as a decorative sash. My stepfamily immediately erupted into cruel laughter and mocked my handmade garment by calling it a collection of worthless rags.

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