When I was a toddler, my father gave me the ultimate parenting gift: a box of clothes.

He would give me the boxes at Christmas. 

Every year, I would pick up the box and go to my local store.

I would wear the box with me every day. 

When I was 11, I asked my dad if he would like to buy me a pair of jeans. 

He said, “I’m not buying you any jeans.

I’m going to buy you a dress.”

I remember thinking, “Oh my god, I want to be a fashion designer, too.”

 The jeans were a little too small.

So, I bought a dress from a store that had them in stock. 

The dress was about four inches tall, but I wore it with shorts and tights.

It had a slit at the back.

My dad said, “Don’t be afraid of anything, because the rest of your body is going to be so beautiful.

You can do anything.”

When I turned 11, the next year, my mother asked if I wanted to dress my baby. 

I said, “I’m sure you’ll be able to.” 

I knew it was a good time to dress. 

She said, – “Well, if you have time, why don’t you dress up and try on a dress? 

I was happy, but then I got the picture.

I was dressed up in this beautiful dress that had an enormous zipper on the back, and I just wore it everywhere.

It was a very different style than what I wore in the box. 

Then, one day, I decided to take my clothes to a store and look at what was in stock there.

I had a big box, so I bought all of the clothes. 

My dad was so excited when I saw that I was happy with what I had bought.

 I remember looking in my box and seeing a lot of things I never bought before.

I bought some of the dresses that my mother had made for me.

I took one of them to the beach.

I put it on my knee and ran to the ocean.

I started swimming.

I got in the water and my dad asked, “Are you okay?”

I said, I’m fine. 

After the day of swimming, my mom came up to me and said,   “Look at how beautiful you are.

I just got this beautiful beach dress.

What’s your name?” 

I told her, ‘Dani’.

She said, Why don’t I call you Dani? 

She called me Dani and she started crying. 

 I looked at my dad and I said to him, “Do you want me to take you to the restroom and get you a towel?” “

Yes, I do!” 

 I looked at my dad and I said to him, “Do you want me to take you to the restroom and get you a towel?” 

“I do,” he said.

My mom went to the house and we got dressed and went to my room. 

We started dressing. 

“This is my dream dress.

Do you like it?” 

She asked me. 

 “Yeah, I like it,” I said. 

At my mom’s house, my sister-in-law was crying, so I took her to the toilet and said to her, “Here, have a towel.

We’re going to the store and buy you some clothes.” 

 When we got there, my dad said to me, “You know, Dani, I think I should get you the dress that you wanted.” 

“You think I like this dress?” He asked. 

“Well, I love the way it looks on you. 

So, I will wear it,” he said.

I asked him what I was going to do. 

I said I would take my dress and put it back in the closet. 

His eyes went wide.

He said, You want me not to put it in the dresser? 

So I said no, and he said, That’s OK.

I’ll get it out of the closet and put the dress back in. 

Later, we were in the living room.

My mom came in, and she was crying.

She said to my dad, “Look, you didn’t tell me you wanted to wear that dress.

Why did you want it? 

The next day, my parents were out shopping for clothes.

My father said to me, you were dressed like you always wanted to be dressed. 

Well, you’re not, are you?” 

 He was right. 

He was right about my mother. 

But I did not understand what was going on. 

There was this image in my head. 

What I was seeing was my mother dressed as I had always dressed.

I knew it didn’t make sense to me.

The clothes that I wanted were in my closet.

But, what I really wanted was