Talitha the Traveling Skirt: A tale of love and family tradition

Becky Van Vleet with her book, “Talitha the Traveling Skirt.”

Courtesy photo

In 1948 in Indianapolis, a family tradition called Talitha, the Traveling Skirt, was born that has blossomed into a legacy of love spanning generations.

In Burns City, Martin County, in the 1930’s, a special friendship was struck between Omadeen Sargent Stuckey and Alberta Thomas Troyan. The two girls were fast friends and their friendship endured through the years. Alberta, along with her eight younger siblings and her parents, Albert and Nancy Thomas, settled in Linton, where she graduated from Linton-Stockton High School as World War II loomed on the horizon.

Omadeen Sargent Stuckey, left, and Alberta Thomas Troyan at age 15 in 1940.

The two best friends, who had done everything together, resumed their special friendship soon after, marrying their World War II sweethearts and moving to Indianapolis to sink roots and start families.

Alberta wed Walter Troyan and, in 1946, the Troyans were blessed with their first daughter, Nancy.

For Nancy’s second birthday in 1948, Stuckey gifted her best friend’s little girl with a hand-sewn little red plaid skirt.

And there, the tradition was born.

Alberta Troyan took her little girl, wearing the festive skirt, to a professional photographer on Nancy’s second birthday, to have a portrait made of her darling girl wearing the gift from her precious friend. In time, the little skirt was placed in a drawer to become a keepsake. However, the little red skirt came out of hiding three more times, as Alberta and Walter were blessed with three more daughters.

Beginning the tradition that endures to this day, Alberta took each daughter, upon her second birthday, to the same professional studio in Indianapolis to have her portrait taken in the little red skirt.

Becky (Troyan) Van Vleet at age two, in 1955.

Alberta and Walter were so proud to see each daughter in turn have her portrait made wearing the lovely gifted skirt. So proud, in fact, they displayed the framed photos on a piano in their home, to greet every visitor who came in their door.

As her daughters grew, Alberta knew she needed to preserve the little red skirt, and the tradition that had begun from the gift from her precious friend.

Eventually, Alberta and Walter were blessed to receive their very own copies of professional photographs taken of their granddaughters at age two, wearing the little red skirt.

The second generation to wear the little red skirt, Van Vleet’s daughters Top row, left to right, Amanda and Hannah. Bottom. left to right, Liz and Tavia. Center is a photo of Van Vleet at age two.

After Alberta and Walter had passed away, their four daughters, Nancy, Jincy, Becky and Libby carried on their mother’s tradition, having their daughters, every one of them, photographed at age two in the special little skirt.

The red plaid skirt made by Omadeen so long ago began to travel to other cities and other states, eventually adorning a third generation of two-year-old girls.

To this day, the four daughters from the first generation keep close tabs on the skirt’s traveling itinerary. None of them will ever forget the importance of the little skirt during their childhoods, and they have vowed to keep the tradition going in memory of their dear mother.

Alberta and Walter’s third daughter, Becky Van Vleet, is a retired teacher and principal who today lives with her husband Troy in Colorado Springs, Colo., where they relocated after spending 40 years in Indiana. The couple enjoys gardening, hiking and biking in the great outdoors, being with family and reading books to their grandchildren.

Van Vleet has immortalized the tradition of the little red skirt in a very special way.

Van Vleet is the author of “Talitha, the Traveling Skirt,” a children’s picture book written to be read aloud to three-to-eight-year-olds, in which the main character is a little plaid skirt who holds an important tradition together by traveling with each girl born to the family tree to her two-year-old photo shoot, since 1946. The book was published by Elk Lake Publishing Inc. in 2019.

Talitha’s name means “little girl” from Mark, chapter four in the New Testament. Early learning, family life and imagination are key concepts in this story, according to Van Vleet.

“I wore this skirt in 1955, and I have enjoyed watching my own four daughters and my six granddaughters wear this little skirt at two years old within our growing family tree,” said Van Vleet. “All of the girls in Alberta and Walter’s family have contributed to the growing sentimental meaning of the little plaid skirt in our family. My book paints a precious picture of preserving a family tradition and a special friendship spanning three generations and beyond. The changes of family life and culture that Talitha experiences through the passage of time are subtly woven in by my illustrator, Courtney Smith.”

The third generation, Van Vleet’s granddaughters (Alberta’s great-granddaughters) wearing the little plaid skirt. Left to right, Selah, Tanayah, Belle, Journi and Ava.

Van Vleet’s mother, Alberta, graduated from Linton-Stockton High School in 1942, her eight younger siblings following behind. Van Vleet’s grandfather, Albert Thomas, later became a children’s tutor and custodian at Linton Elementary School, where his portrait is currently on display.

Omadeen Sargent Stuckey, age 93, resides in Indianapolis.

“I could hardly contain my excitement, the day I prepared a copy of my book for mailing to Omadeen,” Van Vleet said.

Omadeen today at her home in Indianapolis.

Chronicling another beloved childhood memory, Van Vleet has a second book, “Harvey, the Traveling Harmonica,” based on Van Vleet’s memories of her father, who always carried a harmonica in one of his shirt pockets.

“It’s very different from Talitha’s story, but is also inspired by a true family story,” Van Vleet said.

Both Talitha and Harvey’s stories, as written by Van Vleet, are available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble, and more information, including blogs for each of the three generations to have worn the skirt and family pictures, are available at www.beckyvanvleet.com.