Our Wedding Dress: A Tribute To My Grandma

It's my Grandma's birthday on April 27th. I've always felt close to my grandma, and she has a talent of making every child and grandchild she knows feel like they are her favorite. She loves the gospel, the Savior, and the temple. Hers was a beautiful example to grow up with. She is always putting the needs of others before herself, and she works so hard to keep in touch with everyone and show them that she loves them. She's a stellar cook, seamstress, cheerleader, teacher, visiting teacher, and friend.

I’ve always felt closely bonded to my grandma. I'm the baby that gave her the name “Grandma,” but I've felt even closer to her since I got married, and some of that has to do with our wedding dress. When I was fifteen, I was having a sleepover at her house and asking her about her wedding dress when, to my surprise, she asked me if I wanted to try it on. I was flattered, and after I saw it, I knew it was the most beautiful dress in the whole world. I asked her if I could wear it for my own wedding. I think she thought I would grow out of that fantasy, so she was at least a little bit surprised when I told her that I was going to marry Tyler and asked if I could wear her dress.

My grandma was smaller than me when she got married, but the dress fit me almost perfectly. It was classy and unique and it held a legacy that I wanted to perpetuate in my own life and marriage. The only adjustment we made was to the sleeves. They were originally really poofy, so my mom tamed them for my special day. My grandparents celebrated forty-four years of marriage just two days before I donned that special dress in order to celebrate my own wedding to my sweetheart.

My grandparents have not led an easy life. Like everyone, they have experienced heartbreak, depression, and frustration, but they have also found great joy, love, and the comfort of the spirit. Together they have weathered many storms and found comfort with each other and with the Savior. Even through the difficult struggles they have faced, they have set wonderful examples for their posterity, and no matter how hard their own lives got, they were always there to love and support me and teach me all kinds of lessons about being a Christlike person and a person of faith.

When my mom helped me put on that forty-four-year-old dress on my wedding day, I felt like I understood, at least in part, the love that my grandma has for The Lord, my grandpa, her children, her grandchildren, and everyone else in her life. I felt like, in a small way, I could feel her hopes and dreams and worries and anxieties from her own wedding day several years earlier. It was a precious and sacred experience, and I will always hold it close and treasure it in my heart.

Patsy Hewlett Goates is an amazing and courageous woman. She has taught many through her example and words, and I am one of the privileged that are able to call her Grandma. She has supported and loved me through my life, and I am truly blessed to be part of her posterity. The dress we both wore symbolizes so much. It symbolizes love, purity, covenants, hope, and happiness. My grandma has passed a legacy to me and to each member of her family that extends far beyond that of a timeless wedding dress, but I will be forever grateful to have been able to share that special symbol with her as well.

To read my grandpa’s perspective on this special dress and his tribute to this amazing lady, click here.