My Mom Gave Me Her Only Nice Dress for Graduation.Then I Saw What She Wore

 My mother raised six children on her own.

She worked whenever she could find work, sometimes taking extra shifts and coming home so tired that she would fall asleep at the kitchen table. There was never much money left after rent, food, school supplies, and everything else six children needed, but somehow she always found a way to keep us going.

When my graduation finally came, I wanted her to be there more than anything.

A few days before the ceremony, she told me she had a surprise.

She had taken her only nice dress and altered it by hand so she could make me something to wear. It wasn't fancy, but when I tried it on, I loved it. She had spent days working on it whenever she had a few minutes between work and taking care of my younger brothers and sisters.

I remember looking at myself in the mirror and feeling proud.

Then I saw what my mother wore to the ceremony.

She was sitting near the back of the room in an old skirt with several small holes in it.

I felt terrible.

For a moment, I wondered if she had given me too much. She had taken the nicest thing she owned and turned it into something for me, while she came to my graduation wearing clothes she could barely afford to replace.

I kept looking back at her during the ceremony.

She didn't seem embarrassed.

She was smiling.

She kept clapping whenever another student walked across the stage, and every time she looked at me, she gave me that same smile she had given me throughout my childhood whenever she wanted me to know that everything was going to be okay.

A few minutes before my turn to speak, I was standing near the side of the stage when I overheard one of the teachers talking to another staff member.

He laughed and said, "People who can't afford children shouldn't keep having them."

I knew exactly who he was talking about.

My mother.

I was angry, but I didn't say anything. At that moment, I wasn't sure what I could say without making a scene.

Then my name was called.

I walked to the microphone.

I had prepared a short speech, but I put the paper down.

I looked toward the back of the room where my mother was sitting.

"Before I say anything else," I said, "I want everyone to look at what I'm wearing."

The room became quiet.

"My mom made this for me herself. She took the only nice dress she had and changed it so I could wear something special today."

I looked at her.

"She worked two jobs while raising six children. She made sure we had food, went to school, and had what we needed, even when she had very little left for herself."

My voice started shaking, but I kept going.

"She's sitting in the back wearing an old skirt with holes in it because she gave me the best thing she had."

My mother covered her mouth with her hand.

I could see tears in her eyes.

I turned back toward the audience.

"Some people might look at her clothes and decide that she hasn't accomplished much. But I don't see an old skirt. I see the woman who worked for everything I have today."

The room was completely silent.

"I don't know what your mothers did for your graduations. I know what mine did for mine."

I paused.

"And I hope one day I can give her even half of what she has given me."

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then my mother stood up.

She was crying as she walked toward me, and when she reached the stage, she wrapped both arms around me.

I held her tightly.

The applause started a few seconds later.

Even the teacher who had made the comment was clapping.

But I wasn't looking at him.

I was looking at my mother.

That old skirt didn't make her look poor to me.

It made me think about everything she had given up so her children could stand where we were standing.

And that day, in front of everyone, I finally got the chance to tell her how much I had noticed.