cinderella
Many little girls dream of becoming a princess. They may not dream of it for long, before reality sets in, but at some point, most little girls want to be a princess, even if it is just Cinderella. For one actress, Grace Kelly, that dream came true on April 18, 1956, when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. The couple met the year before at the Cannes Film Festival, went on to have three children…Caroline, born January 23, 1957; Albert II, born March 14, 1958; and Stephanie, born February 1, 1965.
Grace Kelly, the daughter of a former model and a wealthy industrialist, was born on November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia. Her talent was obvious early on, and she began acting as a child. Then, after high school, she attended the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York. She had found her niche…or so she thought. 
After her schooling, she began to audition for Broadway plays. She was a classic blonde beauty, who supported herself by modeling and appearing in TV commercials, while awaiting her “big break.”
In 1949, Kelly debuted on Broadway in a play called “The Father” by August Strindberg. She was on her way. Then two years later, she landed her first Hollywood part. Granted, it was a bit part, in a movie called “Fourteen Hours,” but it was a part. Her big break came in 1952, when she starred as Gary Cooper’s wife in the Western “High Noon.” Her performance in 1954’s “The Country Girl,” as the wife of an alcoholic actor and singer played by Bing Crosby, won her a Best Actress Oscar (Kelly beat out Judy Garland in “A Star is Born”). Among Kelly’s other acting credits were three Alfred Hitchcock thrillers: “Dial M for Murder” (1954), with Ray Milland and Robert Cummings, Rear Window (1954), with James Stewart, and “To Catch a Thief,” with Cary Grant. Her last big-screen role was in 1956’s “High Society,” a musical adaptation of 1940’s The Philadelphia Story, co-starring Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. By this time, Grace Kelly was on her way to retirement from the movies, because she was about to become a “real-life” princess. That little girl dream was going to come true for her…and for a number of years, Grace Kelly lived that dream.
Then, on September 14, 1982, her dream came to an end. Princess Grace of Monaco…the American-born 
former film star Grace Kelly, whose movie credits include The Country Girl and Rear Window, and who was known as the darling of the United States, and the dream of many little girls, died at the age of 52 from injuries suffered after her car plunged off a mountain road near Monte Carlo. Princess Grace was driving with her youngest daughter, Stephanie, when she reportedly suffered a stroke and lost control of her car, which plunged down a mountainside. Seventeen-year-old Stephanie survived, but Princess Grace died the following day. Her death was mourned by millions of fans around the world.
As the time for the school dances arrives again, I am reminded of my oldest daughter, Corrie and her husband, Kevin, and the dances they went to. They fell in love when Corrie was just 15 years old, and one of their favorite things to do was to go to the Co-Ed Ball and Prom. They went to both of them each year from the time the began dating until Corrie graduated. They were like Cinderella and Prince Charming. Theirs was a fairytale romance…love at first site. My beautiful little girl was becoming a beautiful young lady. She looked so pretty.
The pictures done, they headed out to their romantic evening, with eyes only for each other. Love blossomed at those dances, as well as their other dates, but it is always those special evenings that stand out in your memory. The dance committees had created an evening of moments with balloons, crepe paper, cardboard, and spray paint. An evening to remember.
With each new year and each new dance, they grew and changed…blossomed really. I remember that I was always so proud of the handsome couple they made. But, along with that thought was the little feeling of sadness that my little girl was growing up so fast. You know the one. That feeling that you suddenly want to put on the brakes and slow down time, but you know that you can’t. So you smile and wipe away a tear or two, and send them on their way to their evening to remember.
Every year these dances come around, and a new set of students head out, all dolled up. A new group of parents think back to the day their child was born and wonder how it could be possible that they are already heading out for their high school prom, or other such dance, and wish they could turn back the clock, so that their little one could still be their little one.
When we are young, we think that life is a long time. We wonder when we will get to be the grown up one, heading out on that special date, and before we know it..we are already sending our own children out on an evening to remember.
