This time I am at the top of the stairs stepping down when Grandma says, “Marti, you make a wonderful looking girl. If I knew this, I would have given you the dress intentionally. I am impressed with how you have handled this situation. You can mark my words, I will be eternally grateful.”

Things could have stopped right there and I wouldn’t have been any more pleased to be her grandson. Because of Essie, I looked forward to what was ahead.

Once on the main floor, Grandma and I were holding hands. “Nice, Marti, your gentle touch matches the young woman I see in front of me." Hugs included cheeks gracing the other along with air kisses. Mom’s expression says I had done well.

Grandma handed me a rolled-up check, “Don’t look at it now, but it’s yours. Spend it however you wish.” It went into the small purse I was given.

Darby, Essie, and I are going to a nearby department store. Darby says, “We want to make good use of our time, but we don’t need to buy anything right away. We’ll look at shoes, earrings, and an outfit for tomorrow?”

I try to interrupt, but Essie takes over the conversation. “Whatever we still need to do come 1:00 will have to wait until after the salon visit.”

We’re in a department store of a pedestrian mall. Darby has what she calls a swatch of the dress I was given. She lets me pick shoes and then shows me what the swatch looks like next to them.

It was after three shoes that I was catching on and I’m pleased when Essie and Darby both said I did gell. It was after some more that I realized ‘well’ wasn’t what they wanted. Darby says, “If we had time to deal with Amazon on-line, we’d save money. But we don’t and since Dad’s paying.” Christy's at one anchor store, Kate at the other and one-stop in between, we were trying on a silvery-white two and a half-inch heel with ankle straps that's for tonight. They buy me holiday socks for tomorrow.

I put my foot down, “There’s no tomorrow to this,” I said.

Darby says, “Grandma says, Laurie needs to see you and…” Essie speaks up, “7:00 a.m. mass with me and my family. If you give me a problem, we will go to the 6:00 a.m.service.”

I say, “What about what I want?”

Essie says, “With the salon experience and everything we buy, you’ll want time to enjoy it, Hopefully, two days will be enough.”

I pouted, “Making one day will be a minor miracle.”

I wear the shoes back to the car, and with trepidation into the salon. Essie introduces me to Hope. Hope says, “Marti, it is nice to meet you. Unless you need Essie or Darby holding your hand. I want this to be your experience. My understanding is that we’ll do your hair, a manicure, and a pedicure.” She makes sure I can use her tablet to look at pictures and more intently choose styles I like. “Essie suggested these three for you.” I look at them and the following pictures, there are two I like. I finally pick one.

“That is a very nice choice, but I’m going to suggest some hair extensions to give it body and to make it look like what you’re choosing.” She did ask my sister and Essie if they objected, which they did not.

It was funny watching the volume of my hair become fuller. Then my hair would be trimmed and rolled.

My feet were in a warm solution and Jalyn, a Thai woman, began working on my toes. “Your toenails need to be taken care of. Ja makes them look pretty.” She made me feel good by having them done. She spent time massaging my feet, she was identifying good skin from the harder or dry skin. She worked especially hard around my toes, heels, and the balls of my feet.

I was following Hope the most. She was amused by how I came to be there. “I commend you for relaxing Marti and deciding to enjoy your plunge into the festive holiday experience of a woman. You should have a girls’ time out to get the full enjoyment.” She handed pamphlets to both Essie and Darby.

I remarked to Hope that the strands she put in the hair seemed more numerous than twenty that was to be put into my hair. It had become so full. She smiled and said, “That extra was the holiday cheer that is in the ‘air.”

“A gift from Santa’s helpers?”

I was soon to go under a hairdryer, with some cheerful laughter going around me. Darby and Essie brought over three magazines we shared as I was under the hairdryer. Darby and Essie were making fun that I had trouble following their conversation under the dryer. I turned a page in the holiday flyer, “You two were talking about holiday outfits for me…” Then I pointed in the Kohls’ flyer with a red sparkly skirt and matching top with candy canes and snowflakes.

Quickly Darby asks, “What would be better white or green leggings?”

I say, “White, I wouldn’t want to be an elf.”

Essie was soon off on another errand as I noticed, Jalyn was now working on my left hand. She said, “I have to use artificial nails on index fingers you bite. You should relax, not bite.”

I asked, “Aren’t you embarrassed to do my nails?”

“No, in Thailand, a boy being a pretty girl is an art. We all have our place.”

Darby chimed in, “You help Matt look pretty as Marti,”

Ja, “Yes, but inside there needs to be the joy that is the mark of a good girl.”

Hope picks up the statement, “Your hair is dry, let’s see if how it looks gives you joy. You have the makings of a beautiful young woman.”

We waited until Jalyn was at a point she could stop. Once I was seated they got back to work. I watched in the mirror as my new hairstyle came together. It was like watching me be transformed into one of Essie’s friends. Yes, I would fit in well as another girl going to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service.

It was another twenty minutes for Hope to finish combing, and brushing my curls and waves into place. I complimented her, “I can’t believe the transformation of how I look.”

She said, “Much had to do with your selection and willingness to use the hair extensions. Your face's fine features add to how nice you look.”

“What do you mean by fine features?”

Hope says, “In your case with the dress they showed me. I darkened your cheeks here, to make your face look narrower. The dress I saw, Matt will be unimaginable. You could be a female friend or you could be a cousin of either one of these girls.”

I couldn’t yet see the change that Darby and Essie both plainly saw. Darby interjects, “You will be able to see it once you dress for church.”

That was the first I got to see my toenails painted. Jalyn took out the cushions from between my toes. “Your nails are dry but you should be very careful for the next thirty to sixty minutes.” Watching my fingernails being painted was surreal. “Essie and Darby, it is beginning to feel like I am in some girl’s body and I am looking out and watching all of this unfold.”

Essie says, “Tell us, we know it’s you, but you’ve changed so much even your voice. It has changed even since we left the house. It is like Marti is very different from Matt.”

To be continued...