I have no idea how I managed to smile while my mom fawned over me post-cake. She was blissfully, cluelessly happy when she presented me with my present, a hand-made dress. Only on very special occasions could we wear anything but our division-issued uniforms. All different types of clothes that served all sorts of purposes existed B-I, but now there was no need for choices. We were in an enclosure with limited resources so it was far easier to produce mass-quantities of the same types of clothing than to somehow make different fabrics and patterns for us to pick and choose from. That seemed frivolous even to me. But, first dates with our future mates and our wedding day called for a small exception to th...

Please subscribe to keep reading.