Prince Charming @ MindSay 
love
So, here's the basics of what's going on in my world these days, however insane it may sound, it's ture, this is my life.
So on a whim, I ditched my old boyfriend, and started something with my best friend of five years.
We are running away together.
So I'm moving to Surrey, with a colour blind communist, into an appartment with no floor (well, only part of it has no floor, the rest has a crappy carpet with divits in it from where someone decided to nail it down usuing finishing nails as opposed to carpet tacks), in the ugliest house, in the ugliest area, of the ugliest city in the province.
All of my furnature is still in it's Ikea boxes, my chesterfield is in a box that's about six feet long and two inches high.... that freaks me out.
My front door is invisible to the public, that's because it's in the building's laundry room. I'm looking on the lighter side, and calling it an added security feature, which is a good thing, as we live just a few blocks away from what the Whalley locals call "crack town".
My fridge, is leaking something brown.
My laminate tile that's in my kitchen and bathroom is peeling, but I figure, it's nothing a stratigically place floor mat or two (or six) won't fix.
There was already a floor mat in the kitchen when we went to look at it, I was too chicken to lift it up....
The building has a river view. my apartment, being in the basement, has a view of the dirt. However, from the driveway I can see the river. Anyone who knows the area, knows the ugly brown Fraser river... lined with indusrty. Although, I do get to watch the barges go by.............as they take garbage to the dump.
I'm a 30 minute walk to the skytrain.............30 minutes uphill through crack town.
We live just downstairs from his brother. no comments.
I am informed of a piece of drywall that will need to be romoved in my hallway, in order to investigate an evasive leak.
Cable is free tho, as it's split between everyone else in the building, and then everyone else in the building then splits it into various rooms in their places...
Yes, I'm tottaly crazy, and yes, I do have very good reasons for living in this apartment, the main one being that my prince charming had his heart set on living near his brother since before I came into the picture, another one being that I was no present when the decision to move to that particular apartment was made. another one being that rent is dirt cheap and it includes hydro and cableTV and internet.
And I'm not exagerating one bit in my description, sadly.
Life has a way of coming around full circle. Here's my story:
After my separation from "Prince Charming" I found employment at a certain not-for-profit organization. It was a type of preschool. I was in charge of the new children that would be attending the program. As part of my responsibiities, I was to meet with each family individually and process all their paperwork. A home visit was required as well as a thorough assessment of every family and any services that may be necessary.
A few years before "Prince Charming's" enchantment had been lifted and I was left looking at his true form. After this revelation and his quick exit, I gave birth to our last child. Two months after her birth, I found out that he had impregnated someone else. At a court date (that he skipped), I was informed that he was also expecting from yet another woman. Towards the end of April, he had two daughters born a day apart, (obviously from two different women) and my daughter was five months old. Three daughters born in less than six months, huh? And you thought I was being harsh when I called him an enchanted frog?
So, now five years later I am handed a list of the children that I would be evaluating. As I went down the list...to my surprise: not one , but both little girls are on my caseload. One of these women had caused my children much grief and heart ache. This woman tried to destroy my peace, my chldren and leave me homeless. Now, I was supposed to help her. I did what etically and morally I should have. I explained to my direct superior that it would be a conflict of interest for me to have these two families in my caselaod. I exchanged the families for two others. As soon as the vindictive one found out that I was working there, she pulled her daughter out of the program before the school year began. The other woman had not answered any correspondence so her child was put on a waiting list.
Four months later, the program needed to expand and I was instructed to go to this woman's house and present myself at the door (without ID) and try to convince her to send her child to bring up the numbers of the enrollment. I explained the situation and I was told to not come back without doing what I was told. Off I went, uncertain to her reaction and my fuure. I had to do my job, I needed the income. I also needed to be alive and in one piece, to care for the dwarves. I took the long ride to the development. I rang the doorbell and she was called to the door. This was the moment that I had imagined in my mind for years. I had never seen her, just heard about her. This was the woman that chose to become impreganted by a marrried man that had four children. This is where he had undoubtedly concocted lies to subdue me as to his whereabouts. I looked into her eyes and saw weariness. I saw poverty, despair and sadness. I spoke to her about the program and she exlained her lack of transportation and her scarcity of resources. It didn't go the way I had seen it in my mind so many times. I walked away feeling sadness, empathy and compassion. See, she had seen the lucraitve business that he had and undoubtedly thought that she would be taken care of. Instead, it was apparent that she had unfulfilled dreams. She spoke as she pointed to the photograph of the little girl. The little girl that resembled my children. The same blood ran through them. I thanked her for her time and left. I know she never realized who I was. She couldn't have. She was sincere and gracious. There was never a hint of recognition.
As I walked away, I thought about all the nights that sleep evaded me. Those nights, I sat up crying,pregnant and angry at my situation. The times that I imagined all was with them. How I thought I had become the punchline in that joke. That day I learned that sometimes bad things happen to people and that it's all about perspective. My world was very painful at that time, but I learned to survive, to be strong and to persevere. There are lessons that need to be learned during those hard times. Little time should be spent turning events over and over in your mind. Playing them out over and over again is futile. There might be a day that you will understand that life comes around full circle, or they may not be. But always remember that you will make it and that the sun will rise in the morning. The one that tried to cause me and my family pain, was the one that I was called upon to help. How's that for full circle and for irony?...
(This is from my other blog.)
So, they lived happily ever after....Snow White cared for the dwarves and waited for Prince Charming to come home every night. The love was intoxicating and addictive. They often greeted the morning, basking in love and affection. After many, many years Snow White started noticing subtle changes in her Prince's behavior. He was withdrawn and distracted. They had embarked on some new endeavors, so she believed that this new stress had brought about this detachment she was observing. She asked him to share his burdens, but he was irritable and antagonistic. She thought it would take time for him to get accustomed to his new project and the time that it involved. She tried to soothe him and encourage him, but he pulled away even more.
That crisp morning he announced he was leaving was seared in her mind forever. He was iiritable and immediately started to an argument. He said he was confused and needed time to regroup. The dwarves, the kingdom, the responsibiity was too much for him to handle and it was taking a toll on him. It wasn't until the day the dwarf came home crying about the other girl that she knew. See, "Prince Charming" had taken those vows lightly. In fact, he had never stopped looking for another mate. As much as Snow White had given of herself, her life and her all...he had taken it and abused it. The spell that he had cast on her was slowly being lifted. She started to see that his intoxicating poison had been shot through her veins, it was slowly traveling in her system, but the fairy god mother came to help. She was saved from peril and the spell being lifted, she looked up to see that the prince she loved so much was actually a frog....that was enchanted to LOOK like Prince Charming.
Time has passed and she continues to care for the dwarves. Remembering those days, she wonders if the spell caused her to be in lust or in love with the Prince?
Steamed milk has a pleasant, soothing aroma.
Maybe all it is only that work has become such a comfortable place for me. A safe haven if you will.
The scent of cinnamon buns or pie invades the air daily. It escapes from the oven and attacks me, permeating my hair and clothing.
I carry the scent home with me. It makes me hungry.
My favorite thing to do is people watch. It is amazing how many people seem to think I am simply a coffee machine. Deaf and blind to their lives.
A young couple comes in. They stand devestatingly close to one another. They order americanos like most other yuppie couples.
I see his hand close over hers. I can't help but smile. I bask in their glow, their happy coupledom.
It makes me wonder where my knight in shining armour is.
Why?
Because he's late. I've already saved myself.
