Storybook Endings

A long time ago, in a land far far away, I wanted to be Snow White.

The year? 1986.

The season? Halloween.

The theme? Original Disney Princess.

I was in first grade in 1986. My obsession with everything Disney was still going strong since our trip 1.5 years prior. Everyone wanted to be Cinderella. Not me. I wanted to be the original Disney Princess. Walt’s Princess. I wanted to be Snow White. In turn, my sister was going to have to be Dopey. I needed a sidekick! Haha!

Back then, my Mom used to start on our Halloween costumes months in advance. I remember going with her to Joann Fabrics and picking out the patterns. Weeks and weeks would go by with many fittings and we’d watch her slave over that sewing machine attempting to make the perfect costumes.

I remember I was so insistent on having black hair. I remember begging my mom for a wig so that I would look like Snow White. The only thing we found was a curly haired clown wig. I begged my Mom for it. I needed to have it. I was so insistent that the wig would make the costume perfect.

I was wrong. I’m still wrong. We still have that wig and it’s simply a clown wig. It’s laughable actually. If anything, I resembled Snow White less wearing it. But at the time, it was the finishing touch in my childhood mind!

Finally, the costume was finished and I got to show it off earlier in the day at the elementary school Halloween parade. I pranced around like I was leading the electrical parade down Main Street USA that day. I was, for a short moment in time, the epitome of a true Disney Princess.

Later that evening, we went on to trick-or-treat in our local neighborhood. My poor sister was so hot in her Dopey costume. She would just carry her Dopey head until we got to the door and then put it on real fast to say Happy Halloween! Poor kid! I’m laughing now typing this thinking about how miserably hot she was that night!

All that work that my Mom had done was for one day. She put the costumes in a box and packed them away in the attic. No one wore them again. For 33 years they sat up there in a simple shirt box. There weren’t giant Rubbermaid containers back then!

When I had made reservations for Storybook Dining at Artist Point on this past trip, I wanted Kyli to be Snow White. After all, I wouldn’t need the wig! She had the PERFECT hair just like Snow White.

I came home a week before our trip and hanging in my hallway, freshly washed and ironed, was my childhood Snow White costume. My mother had left it there for me to pack. It was gorgeous. It was just as perfect as I had remembered it to be.

This is past Monday, we dined at Artist Point. Kyli wore my dress and my Mom smiled ear to ear. Kyli danced with the dwarfs and laughed at the evil queen and posed with Snow White. It was perfect!

So many of the cast members commented on her dress. Primarily because it didn’t look like all the others. The other girls were all walking around in the same sparkly Disney Store Snow White dresses but not my kid! The manager even came over and was amazed at how well the costume kept for 30 years.

As we walked out, Dopey stopped Kyli one last time and posed for a picture. My whole world came full circle in that moment.

This is my life and sometimes I’m in disbelief that it’s all real. My daughter has overcome so many obstacles and never complains. She is always so kind and caring. She carries herself with such poise and grace. She is a true Princess in my eyes and truly resembles what a real life Snow White would be like.

Something bigger brought us here to this moment. Something that neither of us had control in. I’m so blessed God chose me to be her Mommy! And I’ll be forever thankful for our Storybook Ending that is summed up in one word...FAMILY!

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