Romance and the Frog Prince

 Yesterday I saw the Frog Prince sitting beside the koi pond. He didn’t move. I wondered if he was afraid of the large koi swimming around the pond, but he wasn’t a small frog. I doubted if he would fit in the mouth of the koi. Maybe he just needed to dry off for a while and take in the sights of the world. Or maybe he was hoping to catch a few tasty bugs. He sat there for quite a while but I didn’t see him eat any bugs. Eventually, he jumped back into the pond, which was a good thing because I was worried that someone would accidentally step on him. 

Once I returned home, I started thinking of that old Grimm fairytale about the Frog Prince. Grimm's tales are, for the most part, quite dark and simply the idea of kissing a frog is repulsive. But then I recalled those long ago boyfriends and the kisses I received from them. 😂 Those kisses weren’t much better than kissing a frog. (Hint: Hubby was much better at kissing than all the old boyfriends.)

In truth, the Frog Prince is a romance which also contains a moral about keeping promises. The princess was a spoiled brat but the biggest obstacle to the romance was the fact that the prince was a frog. Nevertheless, he was a persistent frog for he knew his own salvation relied on the princess keeping her promise, which she did reluctantly. At the climax she throws him against the wall, but the spell on him was broken and love reigned.

There are many, many people who disdain romances because they believe the happy endings are unrealistic. They say that in the beginning the hero and the heroine hate each other and then inexplicably at the end they fall madly in love. 

I disagree with that stereotyped idea of the romance genre. In the beginning of a romance there are always obstacles to the relationship of the two protagonists. That is not an absurd notion. It happens in real life. While your future husband or wife may not be a frog, they may have a job in a different state. The hero may be a police officer while the heroine's father was a mean police officer and so she doesn't trust someone with that occupation. That's just the way things work in the world. Nevertheless, the couple can work things out. The magic in a romance is love. And love can change the world--even the very broken one we live in. There can be happy endings if we keep our promises, just as the princess had to keep her promise to the Frog Prince. 

Best of all, romances offer hope and leave readers with a positive feeling.

Maybe the frog I saw at the pond finds true love and eventually fathers thousands of little tadpoles that look just like him who spend their lives eating lots of mosquitoes and other annoying bugs. Isn’t that a realistic happy ending?

🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸

The Golden Nugget of Truth in Every Romance

It has been brought to my attention that some people think I know nothing about relationships because I am a romance writer.

What?

Yes, they think I live in a fantasy world. Obviously, they have never really read my books--or any other romances. While romances always have happy endings, there is a golden nugget of truth in every romance. In every story in the genre, the hero and heroine come to trust each other.

Without trust, there cannot be a successful relationship.

While it is true that I do not have a degree in counseling, I've been married for forty-eight years. My parents were together for sixty-two years until my mother passed away. My in-laws were married for seventy-one years until my father-in-law passed away. I have friends who have been married just as long as I have--or longer. In addition, my husband and I were the facilitators of the Pre-Cana program at our church for seven years. 

I also know couples whose marriages did not work out, but in each of those particular cases there was a fundamental flaw in at least one of the partners. Most often, from what I understood, there was a failure of trust. One of the partners was simply not reliable in some way.

You cannot have love without trust. Lust is not a barometer for a long-lasting relationship. Trust is the  most important factor.

Marriage has never been a bed of roses. It takes work. Couples argue--and that's okay if they forgive each other as well. Life is full of difficulties and as soon as a couple conquers one problem, there will be another to take its place. A reliable, considerate, understanding, and helpful partner can share the load. That makes all the difference.

That is love.

💗 🩷 💗 🩷 💗

The Dollhouse

The year I turned eight, I wanted a dollhouse for Christmas. In those days, dollhouses were made of painted pieces of sheet metal with hard plastic furniture. Still, the houses were grand two story affairs, not at all like the converted bungalow where I lived. 

On Christmas Eve, I went to bed hoping Santa wouldn't forget my dearest wish. Sometime during the night, I awoke to hear my father fussing as my mother assisted him in putting something together. I lay very quiet in my bed and realized my parents were following directions to put a dollhouse together. Until then, I assumed Santa Claus brought everything fully assembled. 

As I continued to listen to Mom and Dad hastily placing everything  under the tree, I came to the conclusion that there was no Santa Claus. I wasn't sad or terribly disappointed. It all seemed very logical, but the special joyous magic of Christmas vanished. In it's place was the knowledge that Mom and Dad--despite all their hardships--fashioned a miracle for their children, created out of love.

I grew up a lot that Christmas and though I didn't believe in Santa Claus anymore--I still believed in miracles--but most of all in the power of love.  

May the miracle of love surround you this Christmas and bring you a bright New Year.