"Some Thoughts" - Summer of 1990, Dayton, Ohio

Three years after my graduation from College.  My world was quite the mess.  I have since realized that it has been quite the mess for many chunks as I have gone through it.  I think we call that change, and hopefully growth!  At any rate, I was embarking into some relationships I did not understand so much... And they were full of raw, ragged emotions which I constantly was trying to sort out.  This was one of my attempts at sorting...

Some Thoughts by Angela Wilcox, 1990

When your heart is aching,

And it feels like breaking,

     ~ I don't know where to touch.

When you feel like dying,

But instead you're crying,

     ~ I don't know where to touch.

I wanna reach out and comfort,

And bring some peace and calm.

Instead I reach and only find,

Hurt, silent and withdrawn.

     ~ And I don't know how to touch.

When you feel like screaming,

Let me touch your heart;

Until you're safe and dreaming,

And we can return to the start.

I am not always certain,

But I'm learning the way.

To your love and your hearts doors,

And I'll make it someday.

I'll fight the anger and the fear,

Battle the distrust and great despair.

Because you're worth it all my friend,

And I will win out in the end.

I'll know where to touch,

I'll know how from the start.

I'll know when to touch,

To bring peace to your heart.

Once Upon A Time

I have a book in my library that I have read hundreds of times.  The binding is broken, and it barely holds itself together.  Most people would never guess what that book is, but my title probably gives it away.  It is indeed a book of fairy tales... The Worlds Greatest Fairy Tales.  I got the book when I was quite small, I believe as a gift from my paternal grandmother.  My mom probably knows for sure... But I have had it so long, I hardly remember.

I used to tell people that all good stories started with "Once Upon A Time..." - wrapped within those four words can be a beginning to anything!  Any adventure, any romance, any story at all , is possible when those four words are spoken.  Animals can speak, beanstalks can grow high to the sky and be climbed, and a princess can feel a pea through many mattresses (I always thought they needed better quality mattresses wherever this story took place!).  All in all, the world can be anything to anyone.

There are many times when I wish this were possible in real life, don't you?  That we could utter the magic of "Once Upon A Time..." And make whatever words or thoughts that we wanted to come to life.  That the impossible could become possible.  That the implausible could become reality.  That we could reinvent ourselves, and the worlds that we live in.  That animals could speak to us... (Or anything could talk for that matter)... But it only works this way in fairy tales.

It never hurts to dream though... To sit back for a moment and reflect.  How does your story change when you start it with "Once Upon A Time" ?