My very good friend Diane, who is presently pursuing her Master's in Creative Writing, wrote this story for publication in a local magazine. It is the story of how Bruce and I met and fell in love.

***The story you are about to read is true, and no names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Do You Believe In Fairies?
by Diane Batts

Every little girl dreams of the fairy tale. Someday, we believe, someday our prince will come. By the time we've reached our twenties or thirties though, we think that Prince Charming is: dead, gay, or imprisoned by some evil power somewhere. Because, dear readers, 99.8% of the men we've met have definitely not been of his caliber.

Most women, at this stage, feel one of two ways about love. We either "give up" on any kind of fairy tale love at all, settling for the first guy who does not leave his dirty underwear in the bathroom floor or pee on the seat, or we "give up" on fairy tale love, resolving to stay single for the rest of our lives rather than settle for second best.

Brenda Williams would probably put herself in the latter category by the time she reached the dawning of 2003, but she wouldn't count herself amongst those bitter with Love for the dawning of 2004, because in January of 2003 she met Bruce Shoop, and he changed her view of the big L forever.

The night she met him, she was still in that awful phase of recovery from another failed relationship. She was "pretty much hiding" in her house when her sister swooped in and urged her to come out for a kind of "group thing" at Gambino's in Fairhope. Little did she know, but the stars had aligned so that she would meet the Great Love of her life.

When she met him, she had no clue that he was any kind of prince charming. "I thought he was goofy. He was singing Karaoke..."Man of Constant Sorrow," from Oh, Brother Where Art Thou. He pursued me. We hung out as friends for a month or so before he made the moves." The night he began to prove himself as a potential boyfriend was a night they drank red wine together. "I got sick that night (that's when I found out that I'm allergic to red wine), and I slept in his bed. He slept on the couch." Point One to Sir Shoop. And just when we thought chivalry was dead! "He held my hair while I threw up! He took such good care of me while I was sick."

I am not sure about you, dear readers, but I have from time to time encountered men who would do these things--all be them points in their favor--just to get a little nookie nookie. I have also known men who would do this simply as friends, seeing you as a buddy and not a woman to love. Bruce proved to be the rare exception to this rule, the one who is acting on sheer love, the one who has seen something special about a girl and is trying to discover and name what it is.

Brenda was endeared to him after this event, especially when he kept calling and wanting to spend time with her, but she was not yet ready to call it love. "I wouldn't let him kiss me because I didn't want to get stupid and fall in love. That lasted a few months. I realized I loved him one night in when we were in our friend's hot-tub. I just looked over at him and felt this warm surge of comfort and kindness. I grabbed him, pulled him toward me, said "I'm going to marry you!", and planted the most passionate kiss on him! The electricity was awesome! Definitely worth the wait! A few months later, I heard a song on the radio while he was in Vegas for his father's birthday. It was "Here Without You" by Three Doors Down. It was a very popular song at the time and it was played on the radio quite a bit. One time it was playing, and it just made me miss Bruce (more than I thought possible). I knew right then and there that I was in love...real love. He moved in with me after a few more months and we have been playing house ever since."

Simple that makes it a good love story since, if you check the date, it is more than three years later and they are still together, and still very much in love. However, we're not talking about just little "l" love, but fairy tale, whole big, shebang kind of Love. They say that's what this is, and after questioning Brenda about it, I believe it too. Why? Well, when I asked Brenda what Bruce has been to her that no other man has been to her, she described him and his love this way:

"Bruce is that rare Southern Boy with a solid moral sense and a great thirst for life. He's the guy who stopped and picked wildflowers on the way to my house for a date. He's a gourmet cook. He loves animals. He loves gardening. He can fix anything. He goes out of his way to make sure I'm happy, truly happy. He is an honest businessman, and always leaves people with smiles on their faces. He always tries to do the right thing, no matter what it takes. He doesn't do anything "half assed." He loves women. He sees them as unique individuals, each with their own story to tell. He sees them as complicated and fascinating. He has many female friends who absolutely adore him!

"Bruce is a true friend to me. He takes time to ask me how I am and listens to any and all concerns that I bring up. He is strong enough to be with me. He has been very patient with me as I try to recover from my abusive past. He will actually stop what he is doing and "talk me down" when necessary. He puts me first, last, and always. That shows me that he takes our relationship seriously, and that he won't let anything (even me) get in the way of our happiness.

"Bruce has been so good to me. He took care of me after my shoulder surgery 3 months after we met, and helped me get a new car. He has been here to support my family (and me) as we recover from the psychological abuse we suffered in the past. He even arranged a deal with his best friend to help my mother keep her house and land.

"He loves family. He talks to his mom every day. The have such a great relationship! She's the "moral influence" in his life. I love it that they keep in contact like that. Isn't that one of those qualities all the fluffy girl magazines tell us to look for? Well, it's true! It makes a HUGE difference in how a man treats YOU!

"Bruce offered to get a "real job" for the duration of my schooling so that I could focus on what was important (studying), and not have to worry about bills. He enabled me to complete my education and now I'm a nurse! He helped my dream come true!

"The experts say that we women look for the kind of love we felt from our fathers. I don't remember what that's like, so the only thing I can compare this to is the love a dog feels for its owner....Stay with me now...A dog's love in unconditional. They are always happy to see you. They always forgive you when you screw up and they don't hold grudges. They don't care what you are wearing or how your hair looks, you are beautiful to them...always. I feel truly beautiful now. I feel truly loved now. At last."

I was still in that phase where I didn't believe in fairy tales when she told me all this. I was searching for things that might trip her up and reveal everything wasn't perfect. So, I asked about the wedding.

I learned that this, Bruce's first wedding, would be held in October at, of all places, Fairhope's Storybook Guest House. She just as well could've said on Grimm Lane in Candy Land County, in the country of Imagination.

"No," I wrestled in my own mind. I honed in on the fact that he hadn't been married yet. "He can't be a real prince charming; he's too old." That the same could be said about myself occurred to me, but I wasn't expecting my answer to come out of her mouth as justification for his extended time in "singledom."

"Bruce resisted the whole marriage thing this far in his life because he didn't want to make the same mistakes a lot of his friends have made. He wants it to be the real thing, the 'til death do us part kind of thing." If one just added "the mistakes a lot of his friends and family have made" in for what she said, it is my exact statement when asked about the matter. And I know I want the "real thing" so I couldn't doubt that Bruce was the kind of man who was on that same agenda. Plus, I am sure at this point in my life that Real Love is not something easily found amongst the young and selfish, and I can appreciate that it might indeed be easier to find amongst the seasoned and mature.

However, it was still too perfect, so I searched desperately for something else that would take this Romance out of fairy tale-dom. Part of me didn't want it to be real. Part of me wanted to still feel like I had at least one thing better than they did. So, I asked Brenda what kind of altruistic good would come to the rest of the world from this "partnership." In my mind it couldn't be a True fairy tale unless there was a kind of peace in the land or beneficient ruler helping all to live "happily ever after."

To my chagrin, Brenda responded by saying that "Bruce and I are starting our own non-profit corporation. It revolves around the website we are developing...I should get Bruce to fill in the blanks here....But I know that it will be an internet marketplace for goods and services, and 50% of every transaction that occurs will go into the member's charity of choice. We also will use this forum to encourage others to find a way to make a living doing what they love. What a wonderful place the world would be if we all did what we love for a living! So, I guess we're out to take over the world...just kidding. We just want to show others by our example that it is possible to be happy with all aspects of your life. All it takes is a little encouragement and a lot of letting go of the fear that stops you in your tracks.

I am already authoring a website devoted to health and happiness. I'm only writing part-time right now, but hope to get more writers and researchers to help spread the newest (and old tried-and-true) ways to keep healthly and happy everyday."

After knowing Brenda for a time let me tell you, they mean this folks. When I watch the two of them together, eyes on each other in that first kind of lust kind of way after three years of being together, becoming their own secret club in a crowded room of people, I stand in awe of something I have rarely seen in real life. I tell you this because I want you to know it is True and Real when I say "the fairy tale exists, and I have seen it with my own eyes."

I know lots of you would like for it to bust, a part of you does not want to believe it is real and that someone else has it. I sympathize with you and even pity you in that because I have lived in that selfish place for a time. However, there are just as many of you who would like to know it is true and real and attainable. It is to those people that I send an invitation for action. I would have you, metaphorically of course, "clap your hands if you believe in fairies," as Peter Pan once bade his audience to do.

How can you do this? Go to PlanetWebsite and sign up as a member, write the two of them and ask how you can help, or just offer a word of encouragement, or a story of your own that mirrors theirs. Let the world know that you believe in fairies and their tales. Let everyone know that we would rather the good prevail. It is the best wedding present I can think of to offer a couple such as this, more belief behind them so that their fairy tale does indeed come true.

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Thank you Diane for seeing us for who we are, and believing that fairy tales do come true! THAT is the best wedding present you could ever have given us!

Stay tuned for more wedding news!
Aunt Brenda