I promised you a follow-up to my last post, and I will do that next time, but I just wanted to stop and share this:
We had been on the island, got back a little earlier than most, and my wife wanted to stay in the stateroom and relax, but I decided to take a stroll around the ship…
…and that’s when I saw her standing there. She was alone (with her attendants of course), dazzling in her signature light blue dress, and she looked like she was searching for someone. My first instinct was to find one of the children near me and tell them, but the first little girl I met just looked at me funny and walked away (in the wrong direction), so I gave that up. I had to do something (after all, I’m a gentleman), but what?
I returned to find her still searching, so I approached her and asked if I could get a photograph. She agreed, her attendants bustled into action, and I had to explain that my request was simple, and didn’t require any special attention. She gave me a curtsy, which I returned with a clumsy bow. She said a few kind words, and then asked if she could take my arm. We posed (again, she better than I), the attendant took the pictures, and I thanked her. I believe I was smiling pretty hugely as I excused myself, and walked back into the mundane world.
And I admit it, I felt the magic happen. It’s the magic that shows up when a princess kneels to embrace a small child wearing the very same dress, or when a teenager lets down his guard and just dances with Goofy… or when Cinderella’s whole world revolves, for just 25 seconds, around a 60-year-old man she just met.
– Phil
