<a href="mailto:gordandk@aol.com">By GORDIE LITTLE</a>
Small Talk
April 20, 2008 05:34 am
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"Once upon a time in a land far away"¦"
Does that phrase conjure up fond memories and a warm, fuzzy feeling? It does for me, as well. A thousand fables, fairy tales and fantasy stories begin that way. I dare say that I have either read or heard most of them.
As a young child, I developed a voracious appetite for the written word. I still feed it.
My mother saved many of those well-worn books and passed them on to me throughout the years. I cherish them. The page corners are bent. The smudges here and there are remnants of errant jelly blobs. I loved my books, but I used them and it shows.
MISTS OF TIME
I heard a financial expert on public radio recently who started his piece by saying, "Once upon a time" when referring to previous recessions. I missed the rest of the news story as my reverie returned me to the old ivory-colored metal bedstead of my childhood.
The flashlight under the covers, pouring over those precious pages long after the rest of the household was fast asleep. Dead batteries in the morning, a testament to the fact that the "torch" had been left on all night.
Who first wrote that "Once upon a time" phrase? It appears that we'll never know. I've been trying to trace it back through the centuries and, to me at least, the origins are lost in the mists of time.
I started with the Oxford English Dictionary. It tells us that "Once upon a time" can be found in our literature at least as far back as 1380 and that within a couple of hundred years, it was showing up in many stories, both written and oral. It might actually have begun as a German phrase.
I have certainly used it often in my own storytelling with our offspring and in settings outside of our home.
Besides being utilized in English and German stories, one can find variations in at least two dozen other languages, as well.
I have also found the phrase being used in modern movies and television shows as well as in written works on many topics.
HAPPY ENDINGS
I'm an optimist. I believe that, no matter how dire things seem at any given moment, they will turn out okay in the end. That's why "Once upon a time" appeals to me.
It has been used to open gruesome tales, the likes of which some modern parents wouldn't even allow their children to read. But somehow, we were able to assimilate them without any disastrous effect.
We knew that most of the stories would have a happy ending. The dragon would be slain. The bad guys would get their due, and the good guys would win the day.
Did it give us a warped sense of reality? Nope. We seemed to know almost instinctively that "Once upon a time" signified a world that we could only get to through our imaginations.
If our lives were less than ideal, we could enter those "Once upon a time" places. Imagination has often been my personal salvation.
When times were tough, we could escape into those worlds where we could use our super powers to take us above and beyond. My dreams of flying have persisted throughout most of my 71 years.
Long before Kaye and I boarded our first commercial airline, we imagined that we had already visited far-off places by having seen pictures or having had scenes drawn for us through words written by those who had been there.
LOVE'S MAGIC
Once upon a time, we had many children living at home and little money left over from a radio announcer's pay after feeding and clothing them.
When I think of how Kaye managed the household on a shoestring, I can't help but envision the "Woman in the Shoe." Notice that I left off the word "Old."
Last Monday night, our "Little" Morrisonville home was jam-packed with family and friends who gathered here to celebrate her birthday. It was great to hear the delightful din of loud laughter and conversation bouncing off the walls.
Once upon a time, Kaye and I met and wheels began to turn inexorably. Providence ultimately prevailed. When we exchanged those sacred marriage vows on May 4, 1974, we knew in our hearts that the bond would be forever. Isn't that the way fairy tales are supposed to end?
Like the magic in those fairy tales, we both believe magic can happen in real life. That magic is found in our love. We hope we've proved it and exuded it for the past 34 years.
The theory for us is that if we spread love, it will grow and come back to us exponentially. Naive? Perhaps. But it has worked so far and we're grateful.
Maybe our story will have the same ending as those "Once upon a time" fairy tales: "And they all lived happily ever after."
We wish the same for you.
Have a great day and please, drive carefully.
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