My Take
DiVoran Lites
A mother and her two daughters moved in next door with the grandmother who had been there for several years. I met the youngest child at the back fence one day. She was a tall two-and-a-half years old and wore nothing but a diaper. She had long, fine, dark hair. I discovered later that her skin is sensitive to some fabrics and that was why she was dressed, or undressed in the way she was.
We sort of communicated for a while and then she signaled for me to wait. When she returned she had been turned into a princess in pink tulle with a diamond tiara and a big ball.
A few months later Janie’s mother and I stood in her driveway talking. The Princess was there too, and this time she wore a blue net skirt. When I told her how pretty it was she and went got the rest of the costume and her mother helped her into gossamer wings and a feathery headband. With a small blue scepter, the outfit was complete.
“She loves her princess clothes,” said her mom. “She wears them out. I have to start taping them together. We bought this one for her to wear to Disney World to meet Ariel, Jasmine, and the rest of the princesses in fantasy land.
I know exactly how the little girl feels. I read, The Princess and the Pea when I was about eight and the minute the queen acknowledged the girl in the story was a real princess, I knew I was one, too. It was the pea, you see. It had to be the kind of pea they use for split pea soup because she could feel it way down under a bunch of mattresses. She was sensitive, and so am I and so is Janie.
There was one contender for my role. It was my beautiful little granddaughter, I let her be a princess, I had no choice and I didn’t want it to come to a vote. But as soon as she went away to college I took back the title. Do all girls want to be princesses? Judging by the number of outfits available, I’d say we do.
I got proof of that this morning on the way home from church when a hot-pink, compact car came around the corner with big curled eyelashes over it’s headlights. The front plate said, “Da Princess.” I think whoever owns that car wins. What do you think? But anyhow, just for fun, here’s our neighborhood princesses.
Illustration in a collection of Anderson's Fairy tales. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Old Things R New 