Happy Endings Are All Alike… Unhappy

One of the greatest gifts of raising children is seeing their vulnerability and their innocence. They believe in anything and everything. They’ve yet to be tainted by the harsh realities that life bestows. Even the most logical child can’t help but believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, despite the fact it defies all of the things that they’re taught on a daily basis.

I know my 6-year-old daughter is going to be sad when she discovers there’s no such thing as Santa, the bunny or the fairy. However, she’s going to be absolutely heartbroken when it finally sinks in that the “Fairy tale” doesn’t really exist. You see, for her, the fairy tale is the golden ring. She’s a hopeless romantic, even at the tender age of 6.

“I want Mommy and Daddy to be happy,” she’ll say when she thinks nobody is listening.

“Mommy and Daddy are happy,” my mother will tell her.

“Yes, but they don’t have the fairy tale,” she says sadly.

When the divorce was final, it was difficult to explain to daughter that it was over. We wouldn’t be reuniting. There would be no more family dinners. Mommy and Daddy would never be seen giggling and cuddled up in bed. No those days were long gone, along with the fairy tale that never was. It’s nice that she actually believed that her parents had the fairy tale at one time or another despite the fact that wasn’t really the case.

A week goes by and she’s discussing one of the kids in her class whose parents are divorced.

“She doesn’t have the fairy tale either,” daughter sighs. She sits there in quiet contemplation trying to figure out who really has the fairy tale. I’ve tried to point out to her that the fairy tale is very difficult to attain, if not impossible. You see, it requires trust, honesty, faith, loyalty, sensitivity, commitment, sacrifice and a host of other characteristics that many women and men don’t seem to possess or simply lose focus of once they’ve exchanged their vows.