Fairy Tales

When I was a little girl, I loved fairy tales.  I spent many hours reenacting my favorite fairy tale of all, Cinderella.  I loved dressing up in my purple princess dress, and scrubbing the kitchen floor while singing, "Someday My Prince Will Come."  I would run through the house, "lose" one of my shoes, and make my poor father bring it back to me (he would have to make sure it fit of course!)  I dreamed that I would one day find a prince, move into a fancy castle, and live happily ever after.

Today, I still believe in fairy tales, only a different kind of fairy tales.  Not make believe fairy tales, with dragons and knights, but the real, true-life kind.  I did meet my prince charming, but he isn’t royalty.  He is a country guy who is often found in Guy Harvey t-shirts and something camo.  He doesn’t ride a white horse; he has a pickup truck.  We don’t live in a big, fancy castle; we live in a tiny apartment in the city.

Sadly, I am not exactly the princess I thought I would be.  When I was a kid, I imagined that when I grew up, I would be the perfect princess.  I would be a wonderful cook, whipping up 5 course dinners for my husband.  I would have the cleanest, most organized house in all the land.  I would always be perfectly dressed (as all princesses are).  In reality, I am a beginner when it comes to cooking.  I have been known to burn things, or pick up the wrong ingredients for recipes.  There isn’t much room to organize in an apartment.  I am often too busy to clean or organize.  To top it off, Florida humidity makes my hair frizz and sometimes, I just don’t feel like dressing up.

The point of all this is not to say that my life is not perfect.  Instead, it is to point out that life is perfect because it isn’t perfect.  What fun would it be if things always turned out how we planned?  Not knowing what to expect is what makes life the experience that it is.  It is always wonderful to dream.  But if things don’t turn out the way that you have planned since you were 5 years old, it doesn’t mean that you wont be able to live happily ever after.  My life didn’t turn out exactly as I planned, but you know what?  I wouldn’t want it any other way.