And They Lived Happily Ever After

"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you end your story." Orson Welles

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who, like many little girls, believed she would marry, move into a house surrounded by a picket fence, fill it with children, and live happily ever after.

She fell in love, got married and soon there was a little baby boy. It wasn't long before she and her husband went their separate ways, and she took on the greater responsibility of raising their child. She was in a great deal of pain, experienced all the emotions you would expect, and worked through them. She could have become bitter. She chose not to. She did struggle financially, yet she doesn't view anything she did for her son as a sacrifice. And she always encouraged his father to have an active role in his life.

That baby boy is a man now, and he is someone any parent would be proud of. He's happy and healthy and doing great things with his life. She and his dad have a relationship remarkably absent of animosity. Their child loves each one of them freely, because he has never been made to feel disloyal for doing just that. Her life isn't perfect, yet she's one of the happiest people I have ever met. She could be sad about her empty nest; however, she's too busy at the moment learning to spread her own wings and fly.

There is no picket fence in this story. Is that a sad thing? Yes. I guess so, because I love fairy tales just as much as the next girl. But you know what? I think her truth is much better than any fiction. And the way it all turned out? How's that for a happy ending?

Susan