Cinderella and Me

You do not have to come home by midnight as Cinderella had to do. You can wear the beautiful green chiffon dress as I did in 1977 for my first appearance as a dancing and competitive  dancer before my peers at a dance showcase.

I bought the dress at a fancy dress store that sold expensive dresses to well to do matrons and young girls. You had your own salesperson and she took care of you by showing dresses to you, you might like. No choosing off of  crowded racks in tight spaces.

Mine has a name of Miss Ruby and she was yours as long as you wanted to stay and try on dresses for the special occasion. Some came to buy dresses for bridesmaids events or even a bridal dress specially ordered for you and you alone and no one else had ever tried it on before you, so they said. She had a special nice sized dressing room with nice mirrors that did not make you look fat or skinny. It was you in the They had a seamstress there to alter it for you for a small fee.

When you came out of the dressing room, she was waiting for you with her compliments or she would also say if she thought you should try on another dress. She was honest in her assessment of you looking great for this wonderful event in your life.

After you purchased it, you either had to come back and get it, if it was altered a lot or you could wait for the seamstress to finish it up right there. While waiting, they offered you a soda, coffee or tea.

When it was completely perfect, they wrapped it in this fancy box that said The French Shoppe and when you came home carrying the box, you felt elegant and rich and your neighbors thought so from the box.

I wore this green chiffon dress like I was Cinderella at the ball, though I need not, because I was wearing it at a dance showcase for my first appearance with the teacher and we were doing the routine we had practiced for hours and hours. The dress was expensive and this was 1977 and I was married and had two children. No evil step sisters were present, only the audience at the studio who had come to view the showcase, the students and to applaud the dancers and their coaches and to dance themselves in between the showcases of which there were about 12 of us.

I felt like I was Ginger Rogers and the  coach was Fred Astaire for about the five minutes performed at the studio. It is a good  high, no need for alcohol, sweets, cigarettes or anything else.

The high came from attaining a goal of dancing and in a show and later on during competitions I frequented winning 58 trophies, medals and certificates. I was  43 and did well and I took all my trophies through the 30 years I competed and placed them on specially built shelves that became a home for them and also throughout the house on tables, breakfronts and anything that could remind me of those delightful dancing days and the first dress, my green chiffon dress. I still have it all wrapped up in the closet to remind me of those special times.

Life is made up of special times when your excitement soars up to the sky, You do not get weepy eyed,when you dance in a competition and you do not win. Trying is a winning action for you and winning is the icing on the cake. Sometimes, we just have to be happy with the accomplishment and the will you had to even try. I won a lot and I was so proud. Proud is good and pride is excellent and the desire is also a winning attitude.

So watch DWTS and know you can look just as good as some of the contestants and you need not show all your skin to be a winner.

You are a winner and you know it in your mind and soul.

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