Yesterday, we all went to church for Easter. This was my baby’s first Sunday mass. I knew that holding him close to myself at church would evoke the desire to breastfeed. It always does whenever he sees an opportunity. I struggled to figure out what to wear. Not only has the baby weight, refused to drop, but nothing in my closet fits. And it was Easter Sunday. Normally I wouldn’t care what I wear especially during a pandemic were no one sees your face but it’s Easter. So it mattered to me. I looked through my closet and settled on this pink flowery Ladymaker dress I got awhile back. The dress is part of their military collection. The fruitfulness and richness of the pink, gold, and brown illustrations on the dress serves all sorts of aesthetic purposes. At first I didn’t understand why the buttons were detachable because previous versions of the dress didn’t have detachable buttons. It didn’t also help that my boobs have grown so all the buttons kept popping out. But it was the closest thing to feeling part of the Easter celebration so I wore it to church.

At first baby didn’t seem to care for food. He was even mesmerized by the buttons. Then the homily period came. And as if on cue, crying and feeding time. He nudged his head towards his supply and I got up and went to a private corner at the back of church, popped open the buttons and started to feed baby. I was relieved and so was he. A chance encounter with a dress for women like myself helped me get through Easter service. A dress that thinks about women, what we feel, what we need, our experiences through life, even with breastfeeding is rare. I never planned to write about this dress but if you know how ferocious of an eater my son is, not from bottles but directly from the source, then you will understand why I praise this dress. The effect of such dresses, at its best can be immeasurable and I have a well-fed baby as the one and only judge. For mothers who are often forgotten or neglected, being remembered even via a beautiful dress, whether unintentionally or not, is like a miracle.

I am at this stage of my life where I’m beginning to rediscover what matters for me, dresses and people alike. Like this dress, I have no desire with keeping things that won’t be relevant to me and especially key moments in my life. This dress full of buttons illustrated why certain things matter and what will truly endure. In the end it’s only thing of relevance that remain. Only people that matter will speak for us. They stand for us. They become our living presence ever ready in times of need, every prepared to help us truly radiate. When you find your people, when you find the ones that matter, they can change the possibilities of your life, change the dimensions of your thoughts, change the power and beauty of your visions, even change the many depths of who you are irrevocably. That’s what my Easter dress did for me. It changed my outlook with life. And surrounded with my children, it’s true gift, like the key people that matter to me, radiates without end.