Happily Ever After

Two of my four children, Kristi and Stephanie, celebrated their wedding anniversaries two weeks ago. They both got married on May 16th, one in 2008 and one in 2014. After our most recent wedding I looked back through all of my children’s wedding pictures to get ideas for some wedding cards. I had a ton of fun doing this, ending up designing at least 3 whimsical cards per couple. The pictures in this post depict my daughter, Stephanie, who was married most recently. I have quite a few more to paint and I hope to add them to this post when finished. By the way, the colors on your screen may not be quite accurate. Sorry. On the actual cards, I painted the dresses with shimmery Champagne Gold metallic paint or White Pearl metallic paint. The actual paintings shimmer in the light, but the scanner doesn’t pick it up.

With weddings in mind, I remembered a wonderful talk I heard by Dieter F. Uchtdorf, titled: Your Happily Ever After. He began his talk by saying:

Over the years I have been exposed to many beautiful languages—each of them is fascinating and remarkable; each has its particular charm. But as different as these languages can be, they often have things in common. For example, in most languages there exists a phrase as magical and full of promise as perhaps any in the world. That phrase is “Once upon a time.”

Aren’t those wonderful words to begin a story? “Once upon a time” promises something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope, and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words “And they lived happily ever after.”

Isn’t that what we all desire: to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after?

Further into his talk he stated:

For a moment, think back about your favorite fairy tale. In that story the main character may be a princess or a peasant; she might be a mermaid or a milkmaid, a ruler or a servant. You will find one thing all have in common: they must overcome adversity.

Cinderella has to endure her wicked stepmother and evil stepsisters. She is compelled to suffer long hours of servitude and ridicule.

In “Beauty and the Beast,” Belle becomes a captive to a frightful-looking beast in order to save her father. She sacrifices her home and family, all she holds dear, to spend several months in the beast’s castle.

In the tale “Rumpelstiltskin,” a poor miller promises the king that his daughter can spin straw into gold. The king immediately sends for her and locks her in a room with a mound of straw and a spinning wheel. Later in the story she faces the danger of losing her firstborn child unless she can guess the name of the magical creature who helped her in this impossible task.

In each of these stories, Cinderella, Belle, and the miller’s daughter have to experience sadness and trial before they can reach their “happily ever after.” Think about it. Has there ever been a person who did not have to go through his or her own dark valley of temptation, trial, and sorrow?

Sandwiched between their “once upon a time” and “happily ever after,” they all had to experience great adversity. Why must all experience sadness and tragedy? Why could we not simply live in bliss and peace, each day filled with wonder, joy, and love?

Dieter F. Uchtdorf then goes on to share a fun story (his “trial”) about him falling in love with a girl named Harriet. He said:

When we had special activities at church, I rode my bike to Harriet’s house and rang the doorbell. Harriet’s mother usually answered. In fact, she opened the kitchen window of their apartment on the fourth floor and asked what I wanted. I would ask if Harriet would like a ride to church on my bicycle. Harriet’s mother would say, “No, she will be coming later, but I will be happy to ride with you to church.” This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but how could I decline?

And so we rode to church. I must admit I had a very impressive road bike. Harriet’s mother sat on the top tube bar just in front of me, and I tried to be the most elegant bicycle driver over roads of rough cobblestone.

Time passed. While beautiful Harriet was seeing many other young men, it seemed that I could not make any headway with her.

Was I disappointed? Yes.

He finishes his story with a “happily ever after” ending. Harriet eventually becomes his bride. Dieter F. Uchtdorf says: “…looking back I recognize that it doesn’t hurt at all to be on good terms with the mother of the girl of your dreams.” He makes clear that all “will experience [our] own adversity. None is exempt. You will suffer, be tempted, and make mistakes. You will learn for yourself what every heroine has learned: through overcoming challenges come growth and strength.” He further tells us: “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.”

His whole talk is excellent. He gives advice and hope and direction. His talk is titled: “Your Happily Ever After”. If you’re interested, click on the link. It is one of my favorites.