Blog 3289 – 11.03.2024

The Little Princess

As a boy I was quite smitten with a young movie star, Shirley Temple. I remember being quite heart broken when I discovered that she was no longer a little girl but a grown up lady.

Even though I had no shot like Elton John sings in his tribute to another lovely movie star Marilyn Monroe, “I would have liked to have known you but I was just a kid.” I have, many pictures of Marilyn hanging in my bedroom, still more of my wife, I counted them to make sure.

I have no picture of Shirley, yet I carry one of her in my heart. For many years she was my Little Princess.

For thirty-two years of my life my daughter Emily Elaine reigned as my Princess in my heart and Linda Lee, my wife is my Queen of Hearts:

It two days a new Little Princess will mark the fifteenth month of her reign, her Grace, Emma Grace, my beloved little granddaughter.

Her lovely mother ,Lauren, my Son Jay’s wife, sent me the two pictures above of Princess Emma who like Cinderella has a bit of a problem keeping her shoes on, but she will likely grow out of that.

I hope to see her grow up and wear a lot of shoes and pretty outfits. One of the highlights of my life is getting to spend time visiting the Little Princess.

I am reminded of a Morgan Freeman line to Robert Redford in one of my favorite movies, Unfinished Life. He says, “A granddaughter is a pretty nice thing for a man to have.” It certainly makes me glad I made it to almost seventy-four and even more determined to make it to one hundred and to watch that Little Princess grow into a lovely lady like Shirley Temple did.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White