Friday, June 5, 2009

Cinderella Syndrome

I suppose every little girl dreams of finding her prince charming and living in a castle happily ever after. I'm no exception; however, when my Cinderella Syndrome kicks in, I think of my mom, the person who made so many of my dreams come true, either directly or indirectly.

When I was four years of age, my sisters, Ginny and Janice, were 14 and 15, both members of a church organization called GA's, short for Girls' Auxiliary. It was all about Bible study and missions and required large amounts of scripture memorization. When both sisters achieved "queen" level and were to be members of a select group honored by a churchwide "coronation," they had to wear formal gowns for the big event. Each "queen" was to have a crown bearer, a little girl who would also wear a formal gown. My sister, Ginny, wanted me to be her crown bearer, but Mother sadly informed her that it would not be possible because she just could not afford fabric to make a third gown. I, too, was so disappointed.

About a week before the coronation, my sister still had no crown bearer. My dad was a Greyhound bus driver and was on the road alot. When he came home, it was always a joyous reunion. This particular week, he came home beaming, bearing a surprise for the family in hand--a new puppy given to us by one of his driver friends.
Not only was there a precious pup in the box, but some discarded dotted-swiss curtains for his bedding. To my mom, those were not old curtains; instead, they were a wonderful possibility! She quickly washed them and starched and ironed the fabric. In no time, she had stitched the most beautiful formal gown for a glowing four year old!

I've never felt so beautiful since! My mom instructed me to tell no one where the fabric came from, but it gave me such pleasure to see the looks on ladies' faces when I replied to their compliments with " It came from the dog box!!" I was truly Cinderella and my mom was the Fairy Godmother!

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