The Travelling Grad Dress
Do you remember the movie about The Travelling Pants? This story is about the travelling (thrifted) graduation dress. No, the characters are not the same….and the dress didn’t automatically fit everyone….but the feeling of joy and gratitude are the same.
It started with a beautiful purple graduation dress that was donated to Twice But Nice. And a grandmother who frequently shops at the local thrift store. It ended up being a truly special day for a graduate named Halie. Her grandmother saw the dress and knew that her granddaughter would love it – after all it was in her favourite colour – Purple.
Halie’s mom, Brandi gave us some background on Halie, “It’s important to share a little backstory on my daughter. I adopted her when she was 6 years old. Diagnosed with autism, Halie was just starting to talk and to walk – and I had just enough time to have her fully toilet-trained before she started school. Halie was in regular school with a teacher’s aide. Unfortunately, as the years passed and Hailey got older, because of her disability regular school made her a target. Then, along came the pandemic and all classes were forced on line. Interestingly enough, this ended up being heaven-sent for Halie. We found that home-schooling was actually better for Halie – she attended the local Outreach school. Halie adapted very well to home-schooling as the distractions she faced at regular day-to-day school were eliminated. And I am very proud to say she graduated with a full grade 12 certificate. She only had one class that was special education – English. All the other classes and credits were regular classes.”
“If I look back from where we came from when Halie was first with me to today – it is truly amazing – now most people have no idea that she is disabled. That is how well she has adjusted over the years. Her story has always been one of second chances and the power of love and giving back. Changing people’s minds of what she’s capable of. Because the daughter I agreed to adopt didn’t talk, didn’t walk, and was truly “handicapped”, the second chance of adoption, love, expectation and some pushing to do more has brought her to graduating.
Brandi stated “I thought about graduation memories we all have. So thirty years from now when someone’s talking about their graduation I didn’t want her to forevermore feel left out of that communal experience. Halie is a new adult and she couldn’t afford an extravagant grad dress on AISH and I’m not in a position to be able to spend hundreds of dollars on one dress either. Without my mom and Twice But Nice she wouldn’t have gotten her dream dress.”
“The outreach school did not have a “prom” – or opportunity to wear a fancy dress, so my family and I decided to create a graduation event for her. Mom purchased the dress from Twice But Nice. When we showed it to her – Halie was literally jumping up and down with pure joy and excitement! A little bit of tailoring and it was a perfect fit.
“Halie wore her dress for a photo shoot down by River’s Edge. Little did she know that right after the photo shoot when we walked into the River’s Edge banquet facility there was a surprise Graduation Party for her.
Halie exclaimed, “My family was there and even my Grade 3 teacher and my Grade 6 EA. My Grade 1 teacher joined us from China via Facebook. It was a complete surprise – I thought I was just getting pictures done!” she added “If you work hard you can graduate!”
When asked what plans she has in the immediate future Halie replied, “I love to travel so I am actually going to Disneyland with my whole family. Mom arranged it so all of us can go. I love airplanes, hot and expensive cars, and the ocean -- I’ll get a chance to see all of them! After the trip I will be working on becoming more independent.”
And now comes the “Travelling Pants” twist.
Halie shared her plans and thoughts about the dress, “I’m donating the dress back to Twice But Nice in hopes to find another deserving graduate. Someone like me that maybe wouldn’t have a beautiful dress for their graduation. I want someone else to have the chance to have the same memories with that dress as I got”.
Hopefully the grad dress will get a second chance. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will hear the 2024 graduation story that goes with the Travelling Grad Dress!
It started with a beautiful purple graduation dress that was donated to Twice But Nice. And a grandmother who frequently shops at the local thrift store. It ended up being a truly special day for a graduate named Halie. Her grandmother saw the dress and knew that her granddaughter would love it – after all it was in her favourite colour – Purple.
Halie’s mom, Brandi gave us some background on Halie, “It’s important to share a little backstory on my daughter. I adopted her when she was 6 years old. Diagnosed with autism, Halie was just starting to talk and to walk – and I had just enough time to have her fully toilet-trained before she started school. Halie was in regular school with a teacher’s aide. Unfortunately, as the years passed and Hailey got older, because of her disability regular school made her a target. Then, along came the pandemic and all classes were forced on line. Interestingly enough, this ended up being heaven-sent for Halie. We found that home-schooling was actually better for Halie – she attended the local Outreach school. Halie adapted very well to home-schooling as the distractions she faced at regular day-to-day school were eliminated. And I am very proud to say she graduated with a full grade 12 certificate. She only had one class that was special education – English. All the other classes and credits were regular classes.”
“If I look back from where we came from when Halie was first with me to today – it is truly amazing – now most people have no idea that she is disabled. That is how well she has adjusted over the years. Her story has always been one of second chances and the power of love and giving back. Changing people’s minds of what she’s capable of. Because the daughter I agreed to adopt didn’t talk, didn’t walk, and was truly “handicapped”, the second chance of adoption, love, expectation and some pushing to do more has brought her to graduating.
Brandi stated “I thought about graduation memories we all have. So thirty years from now when someone’s talking about their graduation I didn’t want her to forevermore feel left out of that communal experience. Halie is a new adult and she couldn’t afford an extravagant grad dress on AISH and I’m not in a position to be able to spend hundreds of dollars on one dress either. Without my mom and Twice But Nice she wouldn’t have gotten her dream dress.”
“The outreach school did not have a “prom” – or opportunity to wear a fancy dress, so my family and I decided to create a graduation event for her. Mom purchased the dress from Twice But Nice. When we showed it to her – Halie was literally jumping up and down with pure joy and excitement! A little bit of tailoring and it was a perfect fit.
“Halie wore her dress for a photo shoot down by River’s Edge. Little did she know that right after the photo shoot when we walked into the River’s Edge banquet facility there was a surprise Graduation Party for her.
Halie exclaimed, “My family was there and even my Grade 3 teacher and my Grade 6 EA. My Grade 1 teacher joined us from China via Facebook. It was a complete surprise – I thought I was just getting pictures done!” she added “If you work hard you can graduate!”
When asked what plans she has in the immediate future Halie replied, “I love to travel so I am actually going to Disneyland with my whole family. Mom arranged it so all of us can go. I love airplanes, hot and expensive cars, and the ocean -- I’ll get a chance to see all of them! After the trip I will be working on becoming more independent.”
And now comes the “Travelling Pants” twist.
Halie shared her plans and thoughts about the dress, “I’m donating the dress back to Twice But Nice in hopes to find another deserving graduate. Someone like me that maybe wouldn’t have a beautiful dress for their graduation. I want someone else to have the chance to have the same memories with that dress as I got”.
Hopefully the grad dress will get a second chance. Maybe, if we are lucky, we will hear the 2024 graduation story that goes with the Travelling Grad Dress!