and they all lived happily...

*le sigh* here i am. it's almost three weeks into working my 4th co-op in cincy, and i feel a little... floaty. stuck between here and there. i am back from the greatest adventure of my life thus far and am now living out the "ever after" part.

i often complain about movies that don't resolve every plot line and character completely. i want to know everyone's story until it wraps itself up to my satisfaction. i'll admit it: i love flicks like legally blonde, where each character is frozen at the end and we get to read about their "ever afters."

i am a big believer in fairy tales. you'd think i would have gotten over that after having so many of my own personal dreams smashed up, but some people never learn. there is something that entices every person in the theory of a "happily ever after."

wikitionary informs me that happily ever after is an idiom for 'Living happily until death.' Typically associated with fairy tales... there's also a list of "ending phrases" in other languages, including:
Spanish: Y vivieron felices y comieron perdices (and they lived happily and ate partridges)
Finnish: ja he elivät onnellisena elämänsä loppuun asti (and they lived happily till the end of their lives)
German: und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, dann leben sie noch heute (and if they have not died, they are still alive today)

at the tender age (or so i am told by my elders :P) of 21, if i were at any other college i would be in the midst of my senior year, looking ahead to graduation. of course i chose the difficult route... at any rate, my peers are at this stage, and so many are making HUGE life choices that are determining their ever afters...

my personality is largely a mix of impatience and optimism, so naturally i am eager to join the rank and file of Growing Up. Graduation. Engagement. Wedding. Real Job (wait, i already have one of those...). House. Babies...
babies???

why is there such a procession to our 20's? i don't know. i have been asked if i am Ready For All This. i am not sure. i don't know what will trigger the switch in my brain that will magically transform me from flutterbudget to unflappable. there is a good chance it will never completely happen.

i want to live happily ever after, for the rest of my days... but i don't know why that can't be now. not necessarily in the way the rose-coulored daydream found in my picturebooks wants it to be... but it is possible, i think, to be happy... even if my life path strays somewhat from the norm. that's basically the story of my life.

and that is what i am focusing on today. and tomorrow. until i can one day look back and see how my happy ever after ended up.