Happily Ever After | Freestyling

At my forced attendance at numerous weddings this past wedding season, what always interests me more than the dessert buffet is listening to how the bride and groom came to be a couple. I'm a sucker for a good love story: how the two met, the obstacles, the hits and misses, the meeting of minds, banked fires of passion, stolen moments…it's a process that is special, but there's a hitch, the fly in the ointment—no wedding is the Happily Ever After. And to illustrate this month of hearts, flowers and truly tacky Valentine cards, here's a cautionary tale:

"Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a beautiful young princess lived a life of luxury with her parents in a beautiful palace in a country where the petroleum was plentiful, the lawns were green, the sun always shone and servants from other nations bustled around to ensure everything was just right.

"Princess Miriam was 18 when she met tall, handsome and blonde Jason—quite the picture of a prince dashing enough to sweep our princess off her feet—at a ritzy mall where she had gone to spend the afternoon. Like Romeo and Juliet, it was love and lust at first sight for Miriam and Jason. Despite the obstacles a-plenty, they always managed to meet in secret, adding a rather delicious thrill of danger to their romance.

"Of course there were problems: she was rich, he lived on a soldier's pay. She was the daughter of royalty, his father was a lorry driver. Even their countries and religions barely maintained an uneasy peace, mainly for commercial purposes.

"When Princess Miriam's family found out, there was an enormous uproar. 'My flesh and blood, marry an infidel? I'd sooner see her dead!' rang angry voices in the marble corridors of the palace. The servants shivered with fear but Princess Miriam was determined to be with the prince of her heart. With strict parents and laws against their union, the lovers did what they had to. No, no, they didn't drink poison and die in a suicide pact. Jason was more resourceful. He forged papers for Princess Miriam, saying she was a soldier too (as are a lot of women these days) and they eloped to his country.

"Princess Miriam did not receive a very warm welcome in her new homeland. Laws, you see, are not partial to good love stories. She was to be sent back to her family in disgrace and Jason was to be discharged from the army for dishonourable behaviour that reflected badly on his country. That would stop all but the most determined. Happily, Jason and Miriam fit the profile of love-against-all-odds and, as in any love story, they decided to get married despite the circumstances.

"Marry they did and the new Mrs Jason applied for political asylum saying she faced certain death if she were to be returned to her country. A local newspaper published their tale and it wasn't very long before they caught the imagination of the world. The pair became celebrities for love: their story was even made into a TV movie.

"Four years later, the flurry had died down. Mrs Jason, formerly Princess Miriam, was just as ordinary as her neighbours in the dusty suburb outside a prosperous city. Money was scarce; there were no servants, no green expanse of lawns and no expense accounts in big malls. For a living, her prince parked expensive cars for rich patrons at a luxury hotel.

"In what became their public private lives, the last the world heard from them was last year when Jason filed for divorce, saying, "It was what she wanted.'"

The story of Jason and Miriam doesn't end there, but you and I aren't privy to the rest. The morals of the story are plenteous: by all means, dare to fall in love but remember it is hard work and comes with no guarantees. Take risks and make choices, you won't know if you don't go. There is no real Mr or Ms Right and no Happily Ever After.

The only certain thing is that we are all Work in Progress.

For the real story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/828923.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/837655.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4059783.stm