Dear Little Fish,

Your dad and I saw the movie Cinderella a few weeks ago — not the cartoon version you know, but another version directed by this guy named Kenneth Branagh. It got a lot of criticism for being blonde-centric and sexist and some other words you don’t know the meaning of yet. I admit, those things are pretty much all true, but I still loved it.

I love all fairy tales. I always have. It’s not the princesses or the knights in shining armor that I adore — what I love most is the dark and the light, side by side. For every happily ever after, there’s a stepsister slighted, a servant left crying in the garden, an overprotective mother, or an evil queen who would give anything to stay young forever. And if you think about it, that’s just how life is. Sure, there is so much joy in this world, but behind every happy occasion there’s someone, somewhere feeling sad or lonely or left out.

The cure-all for sadness in fairy tales is always the same: magic. A swipe of the wand or true love’s kiss can make it all better. Sounds good, right? Must be nice for those storybook characters to have all their woes cured by some silly wand.

Here’s a little secret, though. There’s magic in real life, too. Don’t let anyone ever tell you differently.

In the stories, it’s often a prince that rescues a princess, but in real life it’s even better. In real life, we rescue each other. We fight for each other. I see it every single day. You’re too young to know about this yet, but one of our friends is battling brain cancer right now. Let me tell you, his wife is one bad-ass dragon slayer. I’ve never seen someone fight so ferociously. She will do anything in her power to make sure he gets the care he needs, to give him as many happy days as possible. Or when your grandma Peggy died, people sent me cards and flowers. They dropped off meals, came by to walk our dogs and gave me countless hugs. All of those little rescue attempts made a really tough situation so much more bearable.

And don’t even get me started on you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you safe. I’d crash through briar thorns, release genies from bottles and battle a thousand giants. I’d walk the earth to find you if you were lost. I’d sprout wings and grow a pair of googly eyes if I knew it would make you laugh. I’d even give you my last piece of chocolate, if you reeeeeeally wanted it.

All of that adds up to one very specific type of magic — love. Just like fairy tale magic, love really does make the world a better place. Every time you act out of kindness, you blot out some of the bad. You make the darkness recede, just a little bit. We can’t stop bad things from happening, but we can love fiercely and faithfully. We can make life beautiful, even in the hardest of times.

Sounds pretty magical to me.

And yeah, love doesn’t guarantee a happily ever after.

But it sure does make us happier.

Love,
Mom