A dream is a wish your heart makes...

The pumpkin coach, glass slippers, a sparkling dress, and of course...my very own prince. As a little girl, I dreamt of it all. Cinderella was, and still is, the best of fairy tales to me. Both my mother and grandmother read tirelessly from the little, worn book - night after night - and there began my love of the written word. In time, Cinderella was replaced on the shelf with longer books full of bigger words, but my favourite heroines shared a common trait...they all had what seemed an impossible dream that came true before the cover closed.

Growing up, I often felt like Cinderella - all but her ability to be "ever gentle and kind".  I still haven't got that part nailed down! I was a troubled child - rather plain, extremely shy and insecure, making me the perfect prey to be picked upon. However, there were lessons in that bedtime story other than ABC's. I just didn't know them then. Back then, all I had were my books...and my dreams.

It'll do magic - believe it or not...

Dreams are planted in your heart, and from that seed springs faith. When you have faith - be it in a God or Destiny or Yourself - you're a believer. (Is everyone humming the Monkees tune? It was the Monkees, wasn't it?!)

When I was sixteen, the Prince invited me to the ball. He was gorgeous, sweet, loving...and a real ass. Come on, he was only sixteen too - and a guy! The least of my worries were ugly stepsisters. Nevertheless, I attended and when we danced...heaven on earth. Then the clock struck twelve, and I'd had no Fairy Godmother to warn me about what would happen. I ran, and a piece of my heart shattered with each pounding step. I flew from that time and place for several years, but when I finally stopped to catch my breath I discovered I still had one glass slipper. Somehow, I knew he'd found the other and kept it close. Over time, there were other gala events where I flitted around the floor. Here and there I caught a glimpse of the splendor of that first ball, but the music was never quite so intoxicating. Perhaps I was distracted by the ever present knowledge of the slipper I still carried in my pocket. Like Cinderella though, I had my little friends to help brighten my days, until one day there came a knock upon the door. Physically speaking, I was able to answer, but my heart and many of my thoughts were locked in the tiny room at the top of that dark stone stairwell. With assistance from the mice and the birds, I escaped. You know the rest of the story...one slipper was smashed, the other produced, the Prince and I found it to be a perfect fit, and there was rejoicing throughout the Kingdom!

The moral of the story is this, of course: "No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true."

Happily ever after...

So what happened with Cinderella and the Prince after they rode off together in the coach? Please don't tell me to watch Cinderella II and find out - I hate it when Disney does that! Imagine our beautiful Princess greeting her love when he arrives home after a long day of ordering beheadings...

"It's about time you got here! There's not a speck of food in the palace that the mice haven't been into, Lucifer's torn through all the screens trying to get at them and Bruno pissed all over the Persian rug in the library again...What are you doing?...Not now! - Dancing! - Is that all you ever think about?! I have a headache. And for God's sake, don't you have one thing in your closet that's not covered in gold buttons? Day in, day out..."

In our version of the story, there are days like that - our life is not one fantastic ball after another! It gets crazy sometimes but when midnight rolls around now, I thank heaven and all it's stars that we're still dancing. No one has to run and hide anymore. We know that our loveliest dreams will always come true - together.