A long train trails behind the gown

 After 30 years of carting it around, this summer she peeled back the blue cellophane to discover a shiny, bright satin dress with broad poufy sleeves and a bodice covered in lace. A long train trails behind the gown, evidently made for a much shorter woman.Heilman had the wrong gown: “We were quite surprised to find a very different flower girl dresses than what we had dropped off at the cleaners. Apparently, the dry cleaners had mixed up our beloved dress with someone else.”
Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery dress, Heilman decided to do a little research. She remembers the dry cleaner as Clampitts. The business is owned now by Blue Sky Cleaners. With the help of her daughter, who now lives in Baltimore, she contacted a number of shops around the Island.“At first I thought we could go through the records. Not that many people could’ve been married on Mercer Island around then.”But without computer, none had accounts dating back to 1983.“We couldn’t figure it out. There are pictures of my daughter holding up the dress. She’s 5’ 11” and the discount wedding dresses, it looks like, is for somebody who weighs 80 pounds and is 4’ 8”.”
 Heilman’s parents Gene and Iris George were long-time residents of Mercer Island, where they worked as real-estate agents. In a picture from Gene’s wedding, the elegant bride carries a bouquet of white flowers. The affordable evening dresses falls just above her ankles. In another image from Heilman’s own wedding, the fabric of the gown falls like a bell around her waist.“Somebody is going to want their beautiful dress, somebody out there,” says Heilman, “will open up their own box and wonder what happened.”