Reverse Culture Shock

After realizing that my wedding dress is gone, we decided to file a claim with the moving company, to try to get something out of the whole debacle.

The movers insist I told them to leave the dress in the closet of our flat in London, and I would “deal with it later.” It was a chaotic day, but I just don’t remember saying that. What did I think I was going to do with a wedding dress on a nine hour flight from London to Atlanta, with nine suitcases and two kids in tow?

In any case, the dress is gone. It got left behind, but it’s not in that flat anymore. The new tenant told me that she threw away the empty dress box — the dress was already gone by the time she had moved in. Now she’s fed up with our phone calls, and refuses to take them.

I wish I knew what had happened to it. Did the new tenant keep it? Unlikely — she’s 60 years old, and let me into the flat to look around myself (before she got annoyed). Did someone take it? Sell it on eBay? Who would have known it was there?

All I know is that it’s gone now. But while we work to solve the mystery in the long-term, I would like to get some sort of recompense. We can’t replace it (that did cross my mind…but it would have felt odd going for wedding dress fittings after five years of marriage and two kids).

But we could put the money into a fund for my daughter to buy a wedding dress one day (she sure won’t be wearing mine!) if she chooses to get married.

Or maybe we could buy it again…Pronovias still makes the style I wore, but not for long. They’re going to discontinue it later this year. Then it really will be irreplaceable.