It was 3.10 and Mary Kay had just finished another hard day in the eighth grade. But she had some great news to tell her family. Mary Kay said with an excited look on her face, "Guess what, Susan is having a big party and she invited me. But the best thing about this party is that you get to dress up in your best dress. The only problem is that I don't have a nice dress.

"I'll tell you what," said her mother, "I will give you five dollars to go downtown on a cable car to buy yourself the prettiest dress in Waterloo, Iowa."

"Can I ask Debra to come downtown with me please?"

'Alright but you must be back by 6:00 if the party starts at 7:30.'

One half of an hour later Mary Kay was in a cable car with Debra and they were on their way downtown to a shop by the name of Samie's. When they got off the cable car it was about 4.00 in the afternoon and they only had to walk one block before they got to Samie's. As she approached the store she could already see the dress she wanted. It had a green-blue colored bow in the back of the dress. The dress was a green-blue colour as well with bits of white design toward the bottom.

'How much is that dress in the window over there?' she asked the woman standing behind the counter.

'It's 3 dollars and 95 cents.'

She pulled the money out of the handbag and handed over the four remaining dollars to the woman behind the counter.

When they walked out of the shop she knew that she was going to have a great time at the party.

The party was not as good as they expected, but Mary Kay felt special wearing her new dress. She kept that dress for over two years and she would wear it to every party she went to in those days. And now that she is 80 years old she still has her first party dress upstairs in her attic.