Once Upon a Time
Some days I feel as if I woke up from a dream. A dream where I was happily married to and sharing my life with Allyson. A dream that feels like a fairytale. A fairytale that is now over.
A new song popped up on my playlist. The song is Once Upon A Time In A Dream by Eric Christian. It’s a piano instrumental. There are no words, but every note reminds me of Allyson.
If Allyson’s life was a fairytale, here is how it might read…
Once upon a time, there was a young girl from New Jersey called Allyson. She was beautiful, vibrant, joyful, and full of life. She loved the beach and the mountains. The window to the world was open in front of her.
She returned home from college and competitive snowboard racing. She was happy to be home with her family, but still, she felt there was something more. What she didn’t know was that her life will soon never be the same.
Allyson started a new job at the Army base nearby. There, she met a boy, a Taiwanese boy called Wil. He was unlike the other boys she met before.
There was an instant chemistry between them, an opposing attraction between the East and the West. They went out on a few dates and were soon always together. She left the only home she knew and moved in with him.
They lived together and even visited his home country of Taiwan. Everything was so different. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the food, the people. And yet, it all felt very comforting. She felt comfortable being with him.
Eventually, they moved across the country to Seattle, where they got married and started a family. While Wil went to work, Allyson stayed home with their two boys Jack and Alex and the two puppies. They lived simply and blissfully for many years.
Then one day, misfortune struck. Allyson was diagnosed with cancer. Despite all the efforts of doctors and nurses, she lost the fight two years later and passed away. Wil, the boys, and her family were inconsolable.
The night of Allyson’s passing, mother nature unleashed her fury. A bomb cyclone ripped through Seattle with hurricane force winds, knocking down trees and taking out the power grid. It’s as if mother nature also raged at and mourned the loss of Allyson’s kind soul.
After a storm, nature is at first quiet, but then begins long process of self healing. Allyson, ever the caring wife and mother, loves us all and would want us to heal too.
Unlike typical fairytales, this one does not end with happily ever after, but rather a waking up in the real world. I was in a fairytale, and Allyson was my princess. We rescued each other until she was granted her wings by the angels.
Sometimes we are in the middle of a good dream, but then something startles and wake us up. As hard as we try, we cannot fall back asleep and return to that dream. I feel like this is what happened to me.
Once upon a time in a dream, I was living a fairytale life with Allyson. I can’t ever go back, but the memories of her are forever real and alive.