When Purple Rain came out I was a shy high school senior. This is when I fell in love with Prince. He inspired me to come out of my shell. I was no longer the pretty but shy girl with no friends. My passion was sewing and I made all of my own clothes. I decided to pursue my love and attend fashion design school at Kent State University. It was during these incredible 4 years living on campus that I flourished because of his inspiration. I would play his albums all night as I designed and worked on school projects. I felt invisible and he gave me such confidence to feel I was truly the best in my class, I believed it with all heart. No one worked as hard as me, pulling all-nighters sewing machine whirring to the tunes of Darling Nikki and Little Red Covette. No one was as talented as I. I showed up in class with projects that blew everyone else's out of the water. I designed and sewed my own "Purple Rain" inspired wardrobe which included cropped hand painted jackets and purple satin pants with black lace cutouts on the sides of the legs. This was how Prince dressed and I felt confident to wear my purple inspired designs to my cashier job at a local Gold Circle which always got me sent home to change into something "more appropriate". The hot girl's group at the time was Expose. They had a hit song called "Come Go with Me". I decided one night to make a few sketches of fantastic ideas I had for them since they were coming in concert near my home town. Their manager contacted me and said the girls were interested in purchasing a few of my designs! I was elated. I got to go back stage at the concert and meet them to discuss what they liked to perform in. I ended up creating a few of my ideas for them which I saw them wear on Dick Clark's New Year's Eve TV show. I graduated at the top of my design class. I know it was because of Prince's influence on me through his music and sheer magical genius, his entire being really, he gave me the confidence to be the best that I could be. To this day I am sorry that I didn't send my design ideas to him. What could have been? Maybe he would have seen my insane sewing talent to create anything and I could have collaborated with him to create a few pieces, or maybe my designs would have never passed his desk. So many what ifs... His passing has made me remember my dreams as a young girl that somehow got forgotten as life happened. I would see rare interviews that he did or a spotting of him on gossip TV shows throughout the years, his performance at the Super Bowl and he would always take my breath away. As I watch all the old interviews and concerts now, I catch a glimpse of that inspired young girl who had the world in her palm, who decided to pack her Honda and move to NYC one day and pursue her design dreams, who then started her own design business working with glitz and glamour. Thank you Prince. You will always be in my heart.