Once upon a time...

Every great story that ends with a happily ever after, starts with a Once upon a time, and so it is that our story starts the very same way. Once upon a time ... in the land of Utah a maiden spent her days teaching preschoolers in the village of Springville. Each day she drove her royal carriage past the Jiffy Lube , not knowing that her prince awaited her just inside the establishment. The maiden had even had her carriage serviced in the establishment on more than one occasion but she had yet to meet her true love. It must have been meant to happen in only one way. At times the maiden thought she had some type of enchantment placed upon her and she would never find her happily ever after. For many of the maidens friends had found their true loves and had started their families, yet as each birthday came and the amount of candles grew exponentially, the poor maiden grew more lonesome. Then one day, rather out of the blue, the maiden, who had long since been a member of LDS Mingle found a message in her mailbox from a prince who would like to get to know her better. She had come upon his name and his "smile" and was quite pleased. He was handsome and unlike many other gentlemen he had sought to know more about her, and so they began to write one another. The two would sit down to pen messages several times a day to each other, one evening the gentleman called on the maiden's telephone, and then the two finally met in person at the royal bonfire. They laughed and talked for hours together and found they had much in common. They got on so well that they began to date, as they learned more and more about one another they grew to care for one another, and as does happen in "Once upon a time" stories they fell in love. They are still in love and plan to be forever, through joy and disappointments, through times of prosperity and poverty, through small spats and disagreements, and even through youth and old age. You see, most "Once upon a time stories" end with a "Happily ever after" and you never hear about anything else, but there is more to the story. As a little girl I was an admirer of "Once upon a times... and happily ever afters" but as an adult I know now that the magic and the true love and committment happens once the happily ever after has been said. So, now my prince and I are living and loving the best part of our story together... and plan to forever in our "eternally ever after".