“On February 9 our world changed forever. My up-until-this-point normal pregnancy suddenly ended in an unexpected C-section. Our baby girl’s heart rate wasn’t acting like it should. She wasn’t due until March 25… making her 6 weeks and 2 days premature. I was so scared but so excited to see our little girl.
When she was born she didn’t cry, and that’s when it set in that there was something seriously wrong. She was escorted off to the NICU with a tube in her to help her breathe. I barely got a glance of her before she was wheeled out of the operating room.
This time was hard on all of us, especially my 7-year-old son. We barely got to see her, and the boys hadn’t seen her at all because of flu precautions. Two weeks after she was born and failed extubation, my husband and I were told she might not make it and we needed to decide if it was worth it to do the surgery to trach and gastrostomy tube (G-tube) her. They weren’t sure what her quality of life would be. My 7-year-old son started crying all the time, and I prayed a lot. I knew God had a plan and she was ultimately in his hands.
Fast forward 54 days and we are still in the NICU. The doctors called and said they needed to have a meeting — the genetic tests finally yielded a result. The tests came back with a rare disorder called Congenital myasthenic syndrome or CMS. With not a lot known about this, we didn’t have much to go on at the time. Scared but at the same time relieved, we all went to eat at the Black Bear Diner.
That night happened to be prom for a local school. This girl in the most beautiful pink dress was standing by the register when my 4-year-old son and I were coming back from the bathroom. He stopped and exclaimed, ‘Whoaaaaa mommy!! Princess!’ He pointed her out to the other kids at my table who all became instantly excited and happy. This is the happiest I’d seen them all day especially, my 7-year-old son.
Right before we left, my mother-in-law asked her to take a picture with the kids. She gladly stood up and took the picture. Her prince charming sat down at the table with a bright and understanding smile on his face as well. For the first time that day, I got to see my kids smile… it made me smile a genuine smile too.
For a moment, I forgot all the troubles of the day. That young girl had no idea the impact she had on our family that night by just being kind to 4 kids. That night she showed herself as a true princess inside and out, and I’m very thankful for her.”
The grateful mother wrote the real-life princess a letter on Facebook in hopes of finding her to let her know what an impact she had on her children:
To the girl at Black Bear Diner:
Every girl wants to feel like a princess on their prom night. You tonight looked the part. Your pink flowy dress and tiara were enough to make my 4-year-old stop in his tracks and go, ‘Whoa mommy… look… PRINCESS!’
When we got back to our table he pointed you out to all the kids with us… ‘LOOK!! PRINCESS!’ They all got excited. I didn’t let them up because I didn’t want them to accidentally ruin your dress. We watched you take pictures with all the kids who exclaimed ‘PRINCESS!!’ when they saw you.
As luck would have it, they sat you right by us. Before we left, my mother-in-law asked you to take a picture with our kids. You stood up and gladly took one with 4 very happy children. You had no idea that we had just spent the day at the Children’s Hospital discussing their sister’s future… you just knew a princess made them happy, so for a night, you were a princess to them.
Thank you for restoring my faith in strangers… thank you for making my kids happy. And thank you to your prince charming for loaning you to us for a few minutes.
Sincerely…
The mom to very happy kids.
The post eventually made its way back to the princess, who was flattered she was able to give these children a magical memory to brighten their day.
“Her mom actually messaged me on Facebook and said it made her cry. She talked more about taking pictures with the kids than the prom,” the children’s mom told Love What Matters.
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Shellie Newby, 33, of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories in our free newsletter here.
SHARE this story on Facebook if you believe in the healing power of princesses!