The simple white dress fell along Helen's slim frame perfectly. It was just the right length, with the jeweled waistline in just the right place. A discontinued style from Ginnis, it was just the right dress for a third wedding, beautiful and elegant but not extravagant. It was a good deal, too.
Helen left the store, telling Sweetheart's owner, Elizabeth Kemp, she'd be back to buy that dress or another dress she tried on. But when she got home to Reading, she realized the $425 price was just out of the budget of a 64-year-old widow.
So she settled on a $69.95 dress from Sears. It was nice enough, she said. It was going to be a small wedding anyway, at Glad Tidings Church of God, Spring Township, followed by a reception at her sister's house.
She was remarrying her first husband, George Mullarkey, after the death of her second husband, Larry Kauffman Jr. Larry's death had been a 10-month lung cancer roller coaster that ended July 12, 2012.
A secret benefactor
Then came a call from Sweethearts: Someone wanted to pay for her dress.
Helen wept. Who would do this for her?
Kemp couldn't say who paid for the dress, only that the person wanted to be known as the Bridal Fairy.
Helen asked family and friends, but they had no idea who did it. It turns out she never asked the very person who bought the dress: a friend, and a woman she'd known for more than 30 years.
"She was accusing everyone, and I guess she never thought it was me; I more or less invited myself to the wedding," Kathy Kline, 66, of Sinking Spring said with a laugh.
Kline is a retired special education assistant.
Years ago, back on Church Street in Reading, Helen and Kathy had been neighbors. As Helen would head off to second shift at AT&T, she'd drop her girls over the fence into Kathy's arms. It was more than a favor, it was a trusting friendship, and Kathy felt the same way. They shared good times and sad times, including Helen's divorce from George Mullarkey and marriage to Larry Kauffman.
They both eventually moved out of the neighborhood. They didn't see each other as much, but they had the kind of friendship that doesn't depend on regular visits or living next door.
Sharing care
In July 2012, shortly after Helen's husband died, her mom, Edith "Boots" Forrester, was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Helen and her brothers cared for her.
When Helen heard that Kathy's husband, David, was dying from lung cancer, she volunteered to help care for him two nights a week so her friend could have a decent night's sleep. She spent the other nights caring for her mom.
For about two months, Helen showed up at Kathy's Sinking Spring home on Monday and Wednesday nights and cared for Dave, giving him ice chips or candy and sometimes medication, and comforting him when he was in pain. Kathy knew she could count on Helen when she went to bed.
"It was the best time of day when I went up those steps," Kathy said.
They couldn't keep him at home, and Dave died at ManorCare in Sinking Spring on Aug. 8, three days after Helen's mom died in her Reading home.
And while Kathy thanked Helen and gave her a token gift card, Kathy always felt it wasn't enough. She knew all that Helen had been through.
"She wouldn't take money, ever," Kathy said.
No second thoughts
Helen never gave it a second thought.
"You do what you gotta do," Helen said. "I would not take one of those days back."
People tell her she has a gift for caring for dying people and she should do it as a job, but Helen said that's it's love that drives her, not money.
Meanwhile, Helen had reconnected with her ex-husband. They had remained friends after the divorce more than 20 years ago. Before Larry died he had told Helen she should re-marry her ex.
Helen replied that it was in God's hands, and if she was meant to re-marry it would happen.
And it did.
When Kathy heard Helen was getting remarried, to George, she called her friend. Ever the romantic, Kathy always thought they would get back together.
"She said, 'I found a dress at Sweethearts and I have to go back so I can pay for it,' " Kathy said. "I thought, that's right down the road from me."
Kathy decided to pay for the dress, anonymously. It felt so good to be able to give Helen something that special.
Kathy tried to pay for the dress, but the salon owner said Helen had not returned to pick the dress she wanted.
"It could have been $1,000, I would have paid it," Kathy said.
With just a few days until the Oct. 26 wedding, Kemp called Helen to tell her the dress would be paid for if she could decide which one she wanted.
Dream dress
Helen was stunned. She returned the dress from Sears and picked up her dream dress from Sweethearts.
The wedding and reception were wonderful, Kathy said. Helen's sister did her very best to bring all the touches of traditional reception. The cake from Shady Maple was delicious, she said.
Kemp of Sweethearts couldn't sit on such a wonderful story of friendship, so two days after the wedding she posted the story of the Bridal Fairy on her Facebook page. She kept everyone's names private. Soon, it had 128 likes, and it was being shared among her fans.
Eventually, when the Reading Eagle became interested in the story, Kemp asked to reveal the Bridal Fairy.
Fine, Kathy said. And Kemp called Helen to tell her who had bought her dress.
Helen wept, again. And she thanked Kathy.
As they sat at the bridal salon, a week or so after the wedding, Kathy said even though her identity was revealed, there is a joy in giving.
"I wish I was rich and I could help everybody," Kathy said.
Helen looked across the sofa and replied, "You sound like me."
Contact Lisa Scheid: life@readingeagle.com.
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