Happily Ever After--A Princess Tale

Once upon a time, there was this little baby princess who was born to a king and a queen who had four other little princesses. This little princess came into the world early by a week. All of her sisters had come later than expected, so the family was not quite ready for her arrival. Her dad, the king had to clean and put up her cradle as the family thought they still had another week to prepare for her arrival. In fact, her grandparents had gone on a day trip to Wyoming, and had to jump in their coach as soon as they got home, and head down to Arizona from their home in Idaho so they could greet their new granddaughter. We shall call the baby princess....Dee. Her grandmother took one look at the new baby girl and said, "This baby doesn't look like a newborn. She is an old soul stuck in a little body." With that, Dee started to wail in agreement, and she didn't stop for about a year. Everyone in the palace tried to make the little princess happy, but nothing worked. Finally, when she could walk and talk and express herself, she was quite a bit happier. As time went on, the king and queen had three more princesses, and even a young prince joined them in their palace! They were such a happy family. Dee was smack dab in the middle--with four older siblings and four younger ones. She excelled at anything she put her mind to. That is not to say she was an easy child for her parents to take care of. She had her moments. She did not like her picture taken at ALL. Everyone knows that once in awhile, you need a royal photograph. There are not many normal looking pictures of Dee until she was about twelve years old.

She had a vivid imagination and delighted in teasing her younger siblings and annoying the older ones. She named her favorite monkey Samantha Diarrhea. She said she liked the sound of the name, but I think she REALLY liked the fact that the name really bothered her older siblings. She was a bit of an uncooperative princess. Her sisters loved to dance, but not Dee. She stood in dance class, looked annoyed, and refused to move even one little toe. Sadly, the queen gave up, and let her quit. She took piano lessons, and seemed to have a natural talent for the instrument, but she quit. She could play a silver flute, but she didn't stick with it. Sadly, the flute still gathers dust in a closet up on a high shelf. She tried soccer, but one year was enough. After being run over on the field a few times, she said those other princesses took their soccer WAY more seriously than she did. The king and queen came to realize that once she had mastered something, she lost interest in it and went on to other things. Her quest was in the 'learning' of the feat, not necessarily in the repeated 'doing' of it afterward. She had a mermaid's heart, though. One thing she tried and loved, was swimming. She loved to compete against the other mermaids. It made the mermen mad when she beat them, but totally delighted Dee. She became a very fast swimmer with beautiful form. Later, she taught all of the little children in the kingdom to swim.

She also had a very tender heart and befriended and loved the underdogs of her kingdom. She had a rag tag group of friends that she was very loyal to. She continued to excel at school and anything she put her mind to. One year, she took up pole vaulting and qualified for state that very year. She wanted to take up wrestling. What princess can wrestle? The queen told her that there were germs on the mats and she was NOT doing it! (Gees! She was already doing something that could very easily break her little neck if she landed wrong.) The king laughed. He liked the idea of a tiny princess wrestling. There are not many princesses out there like Dee. She also taught herself to pick locks. Soon, she could pick every lock in the palace. That is a useful skill that has come in handy a few times. She taught the king how to do it so he could get into the royal vault....well, actually, it was a file cabinet at work whose keys had gone missing.

When she was in high school, she befriended a boy we will call Barney the Bard. He liked to be surrounded by princesses, or any girl in the land for that matter. He was a natural athlete, but the queen did not like him. He did not treat Dee, or most girls very well. The king thought Barney the Bard was ok. He said he was just a popular athlete and most princesses are attracted to those boys. (The queen thinks those girls need another hobby.) Barney the Bard's mother did not like Dee at all. The queen met her a couple of times. She looked exactly like her son, but with a bad wig. Barney the Bard nearly broke Dee's heart when he invited Asple the Hobbit to the Junior Prom. One of Dee's good friends, the gay Tom Sawyer (one of the real names in this story, can you believe it?) felt so bad for Dee that he invited her to dress up in her prom dress, and he dressed in his tux, and they went out to dinner at an expensive restaurant the night before prom. Another friend, an honorable knight, took her out to a movie the night of the prom. Barney the Bard was jealous that anyone else could be interested in Dee. He wanted her home and miserable, or so it seemed. The king and queen did not see how Asple the Hobbit and Barney the Bard got any dancing done at all. He had Asple, his beautiful date that his mother adored by the way, but his thoughts were only on Dee. Dee also dated a real interesting character for about a week. Even the king didn't like that guy, so he was very glad to see him go try to capture the hearts of the princesses in a far away kingdom.

Dee went off to college in Tempe. She still hung around Barney the Bard and his band of merry men. One of the group fell hard for Dee, and that was about the time Barney the Bard woke up and realized what a great princess Dee really was. Thank goodness she realized how Barney was, AND that his mother still couldn't stand her, so Dee was not interested in Barney. (Think of Uncle Ricco in the movie, Napolean Dynomite--sad, but Barney the Bard had it much better in high school than he does now. Princesses just do not see that much in him. His mother still loves him, though. Also, as a sad note, I hear that poor Asple the Hobbit is pretty.......porky. Hopefully she has settled down with her own prince.)

Dee went to some LDS single activities with her sisters, and met Joseph the Prince. She was planning a long awaited trip to London....and the Prince asked her to marry him right before she left. She told him she would give him her answer when she returned home. It was a long six weeks for the Prince. He practiced making Dee's favorite dessert: cheesecake, and made her family very happy and somewhat fatter by the time Dee returned to the land. Dee told Joseph her Prince, that she would indeed marry him. They would have loved a wedding by the sea, every mermaid's desire, but had a reception with a sea theme instead.

It was SO much fun. They have been married going on two years now, and still honeymooning. We are waiting to see if they honeymoon as long as Dee's famed Uncle Don and wife, Helen of Troy--believe they were newlyweds for seven years or so, maybe to this day.

Last week, Dee, older princess Risti-Joy, and baby princess Breezy all went shopping for prom dresses and shoes. Dee remarked at Sunday family dinner at the palace that she had not been properly asked to the prom. She wasn't certain she and the prince would be attending. The very next day, the prince took Dee to a pottery place and painted her a new candy dish. He made it pink and brown with little swirls just the way she wanted it. When she turned the candy dish over, there was a question for her to answer "Will you go to the prom with me?" Dee was so surprised and delighted. Of course, her answer was, "Yes." Now, every time her candy dish is empty, she can turn it over and think of the time her prince formally invited her to the big dance.



The king and queen think Prince Joseph and Princess Dee will live happily ever after; even into the eternities. Any problems they encounter, they will be able to conquer together. Dee would likely put "The End" here with a cute little picture of a baby bottom. Baby bottoms are only the beginning. Dee and her prince are saving for their first home. When the time is right, maybe they will get a young prince or princess...and maybe he/she will be an old soul like his/her mother or a gentle peacemaker like his/her father. Maybe he/she will be a totally different little spirit to get to know. What we do know, is that he/she would be truly loved. Any child in the kingdom is a great treasure. Yes, life is a circle of love, but that is another Disney tale, and I do think this one has finally come to its END!