by Elizabeth M Young

Created on: August 08, 2009   Last Updated: September 16, 2011

The jealousy started when she was nine years old. She was jealous of the girls who had a different, fantastic dress for every day of school.

So she asked her mother for more dresses.

"Now that is just too much!" her mother replied. "Those girls are spoiled. It is a waste of money for you to have a different dress for every day of the week! Besides, where would we keep all those clothes?"

She instantly became sad. She was sad that her mother was so upset over not being able to give her a dress for every day of the week.

So, she asked her father. Her father told her that it was greedy of her to ask for so many dresses.

"Those girls are either from wealthy families or their mothers are spending money that they can't afford to spend. You need to learn how to sew. In time, you will have more clothes. But that is not important. Right now, you need to focus on more important things and to get your mind away from keeping up with those girls."

So, she asked her Aunt. Her Aunt was always good for a bailout or for some sound advice. Her Aunt always took the time to think about things called "alternatives".

"You need to learn how to sew!" Her Aunt yelled. She loved to yell when she had an "epiphany".

"Now let's see, you will begin with simple things, so you will have to mix them in with clothes that you already have. Those rich girls have dresses with details that will take a long time to learn, so don't look for a quick way to keep up with the Joneses, girl! Let's see if your Mom will help..."

On the first day of school, she had an excellent wardrobe of mix and match clothes. She even received compliments from the rich girls. A couple of the rich girls wanted to pay her to make blouses for them.

But then she noticed that most of the kids had money for school lunches. What a cool thing it would be to sail into the cafeteria without a lunch box,  to step up to the counter and to wave a hand around and order food!

Her Mother told her that school lunches were nasty and expensive. Her Father told her that she should be glad that she had a Mother to make lunches for her.

"Some kids don't even get to eat lunch. A lot of them have to get the free lunch programs."

Then she asked Auntie. Auntie came up with the idea of selling some of her creations. That would give her money to buy school lunches. So, she went to the rich girls, started making little detailed blouses and skirts of her own design, and soon had money for cafeteria lunches.

Mom was right, though. The cafeteria

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