The Insidious Power of Cinderella

 

Brian and I went to see the new Cinderella movie this weekend.  We weren’t the only couple without children on a Saturday night date to see my favorite fairy tale. When I turned seven I received a Cinderella watch with a pink band and her face on the dial. I proudly wore this first watch for a couple days before it stopped.  My parents returned it and I put the new one on my wrist until it too stopped running.  Someone concluded that my metabolism prevented watches from working (is that even possible?)  so for the next many years the only watches I owned were on pendants or rings. 

I had Cinderella paper dolls and a Cinderella birthday party with the round cake forming her skirt.  When Leslie Ann Warren starred in the musical, I learned every word to the songs.  Something about the scullery maid alone in her “own little corner” resonated deeply.

What’s been the impact of being enamored with Cinderella? During the years I was single, I was a feminist with a satisfying career and no desire to be rescued by a handsome prince. However, I did want a man to love me so much—at first sight if possible—that no one else would do.  I wanted someone to search a kingdom until I was found.  It was 52 years before that happened, before I said yes to a man I knew truly saw and loved me.  When we became engaged, I faced the dilemma of wedding attire. What was proper for a first-time middle-aged bride? After a couple months of hesitation, I tried on wedding dresses, walked away, was rational, consulted with everyone, returned to the store and bought a big full white gown with a little jacket to wear down the aisle to meet my husband/prince.

Today, I think about the money I spent on that gown--cheap by wedding dress standards and yet more than I've ever spent on clothing. Today, that dress hangs in the basement untouched and unvisited. Today I wish instead I had bought a beautiful tailored silk suit or dress I could still wear on special occasions.  But I did not.  Today I can be curious about where my desires originate and discern which ones truly fill my heart.  That's a lesson worth every penny.