I bought a one-size-fits-all dress once. It was humiliating, to say the least. Like many Americans, I am a big girl, but not so big that I have a hard time fitting into an airplane seat or anything. This dress had been made in India, (which should have tipped me off on the size!) carefully detailed and beaded, and then washed with a green dye and sandblasted. It was very beautiful, and I’m a sucker for green, and the booth at the art fair was closing in a matter of seconds. I whipped out my money, paid, and scooted, assuming that it would fit.

It didn’t.

Not wanting to accept defeat, I struggled in vain to fit the thing around my hips, but succeeded only in a renewed diet resolution (hasn’t ...

A couple stands across the case before me. Simple, hardworking, salt of the earth people. The woman has just had her ring painstakingly repaired by us- worn prongs rebuilt, a missing side diamond replaced, the surface refinished. She gazes it at it in wonder,

“I’ve never seen it so bright!” She exclaims, “It must have been extra dirty. It’s as beautiful as the day we were first married!”

“So are you.” Her husband says softly behind her, barely audible.

-Cue heart melt here-

The woman blushes a bit, glances at his own matching band, and grimaces.

“Oh, honey look at yours. It’s so dirty compared to mine no ...