I was born pretty, impoverished and good natured.
I knew the story, or thought I did.
I cleaned more than Cinderella, read more books than Belle, and amassed more treasures than Ariel.
All I had to do was stick to the fairy tale script and marry a prince, simple and easy.
Things turned out to be a bit more complicated.
Love didn’t unfold easily: it still doesn’t.
I worked long and hard, and longer and harder still.
Through true grit and hard-won experience, I became my own prince, which is to say I provide for myself.
Now I’d like a princess of my own.
Someday.