Happy Anniversary Joe!

If I was to tell you this love story, I could skip to the “And they lived happily ever after” but it bears telling….how a young prince captured a mature princess’s heart.  This is a real love story.

One night at a ball, the princess was tired of all the wanna –be-princes.  Some of them couldn’t even dance.  Pitiful, she thought. She spotted a tall prince in the corner and asked him to dance.  A daring move for a princess but she was determined. Besides she had been slaying dragons alone for quite some time, asking someone to dance was nothing.  The prince swept her off her feet and danced across the ballroom.  She was impressed.

The prince, of course, was devastatingly handsome but he was only 21, barely old enough for a crown so he wore a cowboy hat.  The princess had already been married once and had a young son of her own.  Her heart had to be mended and since she was a bit older than the prince, he pursued her valiantly and honorably.  In a simple wedding and without inviting much royalty at all, he married her in 9 swift months raising her son as his own. 

Their kingdoms were actually pretty poor in riches and jewels.  The prince and princess decided to have two more children, a son and daughter.  (Her kingdom duties were given up rather quickly.) He liked slaying dragons and arresting villains on pennies pay. So they decided to live as peasants and were happier that way.  They enjoyed their modest castle on the cul-de-sac with other children running amuck and decided never to leave Richland Court.   Sometimes they would look across the street at the pink flamingos in the lawn, basketballs and bikes all over the street and count their neighbors as their many blessings. 

One day, the princess presented a rather odd idea-to adopt a child from another kingdom.  The prince took this in stride in his usual loving nature and they added a son to their tiny castle.

From distance lands, another leader asked the prince to serve him and the family made the decision to leave their castle on Richland.  Bigger dragons and villains needed attention, the valiant prince took the position and sadly, they left their neighbors on Richland. It took several years but the prince and princess finally found a castle between Bravery and Fearless and made their home there.  They even decided to add another daughter to their family.   Even when the princess was accosted by nasty ninja warriors, the prince and the children surrounded her and fought them off….dragging them to their very doom. 

Still living on pennies and slaying dragons, the prince and princess grew their large family into a loving family.  The princess still smiles when she remembers the night she asked the handsome prince to dance.  Happy Anniversary Prince Charming.