Allison sat on the couch and opened a plastic bag full of odds and ends. As she sorted its contents, she told me, “My dad said he found some of my grandma’s perfume. It should be in here somewhere.”
Allison’s Grandma Florine had been born Myrtle Florine Heffington in Bee Cave, Texas, in 1922. She hated the name Myrtle and dropped it as soon as she could. She picked up her husband’s last name, Norman, when she married at 17.
I’d heard stories about Grandma Florine. Allison and I once both worked for the same vintage clothing store, and many of the stories had to do with Florine’s wardrobe: size five gold lamé Spring-O-Lator mules with mink trim; a black and white polka dot jumpsuit from the 1960s; a full-skirted maroon velvet dress with bows on the sleeve; filmy peignoirs. Photos show Florine more sedately dressed, but nicely turned out…
