Tinkerbell

Have you noticed that I have a Tinkerbell license plate on the front of my car?  After hearing that I admire her, Steve found this license plate at the New York State Fair several years ago and had it personalized for me.  It seems out-of-place on my dark blue Nissan Maxima, which looks like a banker's car (for many years now, I have been driving fairly non-descript cars, like the asphalt gray Toyota Camry that you now own Alex).  In so many ways, I'm boring and predictable - am introverted, prefer minimal drama, live in a Victorian-era house in a suburban town, and work in financial services (in fact I am still involved in banking, after starting my career as a management trainee at First Eastern Bank in Wilkes-Barre).  

Do you day dream?  I remember time in my childhood day dreaming about life in Philadelphia when it was a colonial city.  And what it would be like to be a bird or a dolphin.  Sometimes I still do as I've grown older.  I also appreciate things that help you to forget about reality for a while, like a great book or a movie, also spending time in Disney World which is truly magical for me.  I was so excited the first time Dad and I took you to Magic Kingdom, Alex - when you were 5 years old.  The music, parades and park buildings/landscaping made me think about the special time when kids believe that fairies exist, Santa delivers presents to everyone around the world on Christmas Eve and for both of you that Thomas the Tank Engine really lives on the island of Sodor.  When my family was in the Dominican Republic, I did believe that the three kings were coming on Epiphany (in Latin America children got presents on Three Kings Day, rather than at Christmas which was a religious holiday).

I'm not sure if you watched Disney's Peter Pan movie growing up.  The bedroom scene where Peter teaches Wendy and her brothers John & Michael to fly is one of my favorites - complete with pixie dust.  Later, after flying to Neverland they and the lost boys get into trouble with the pesky pirates.  Tinkerbell gets mad at Peter, who is paying too much attention to Wendy, and betrays all the kids to Captain Hook.  She then realizes her mistake and does everything she can to save them.

Tinkerbell is one of my heroines because she is loyal, but not perfect.  When she makes a mistake, she does her best to fix it.  And like me, she has a large derriere - though unlike me, hers is attractive.  I thought about this quite a bit going through separation & divorce (which is really painful, I highly recommend that you be thoughtful and be sure if you marry that it's to the right person the first time).  I hope you do day dream, have your own hero's and keep some favorite "magical" things in your lives even as you are handling all the serious responsibilities of adults.