![\"Manila](\"http:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/pic_0075.jpg\" "\\"PIC_0075\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n~ The way you used to feel, when you believed in make believe, and fairy tales were real? Remember, and make the dream come true, it\u2019s a magic celebration, and our special guest is you ~<\/em><\/p>\n Once in a very great while, you are blessed with the realization that you touch someone\u2019s life. In this line of work, at this time in my life, I seldom see children. Our clientele lends itself far more to the elderly and the retired than it does to the young. I suppose by now it\u2019s clear that I don\u2019t work for Disney cruise lines. This is one of the few things about my job I regret, because I love kids, despite the fact that the jury remains out on whether or not I feel up to the responsibility of having any of my own.<\/p>\n Today though, the ship\u2019s normally staid and stoic hallways are alive with children. Not only because a great many of the crew have families here, and so there are grandchildren and children and aunts and uncles everywhere. But also, one of the things the line does when we dock in the Philippines is to bring on a local show. This time, it\u2019s for charity \u2013 and this time, the charity is an orphanage.<\/p>\n Called from my cabin a half an hour early to help them embark, I did not expect them to be so young. Somehow, we all had it in our heads that they would be 12 and over, but the eldest of them couldn\u2019t have been more than 10, most of them barely came up to my knees, and I\u2019m far from a giant.<\/p>\n When these kids stepped on board, suddenly, as if someone had switched on a camera in my head, I saw the ship as they must have seen it. You never realize how much you live in a fairyland until you see it reflected in the eyes of a child who has never ever seen such a thing before. Before I knew what had happened, I felt a small, soft hand creep into mine, and a tiny tiny person leaning on my shoulder in the elevator \u2013 which was making her dizzy, because she\u2019d never been in one before. And I looked down into a face that was all done up for a performance, as I remember so well being once when I was that age, and looking around her at a world that must have seemed so huge, and so luxurious. Her eyes would have given my mother\u2019s best saucers a run for their money.<\/p>\n \u201cLook\u201d she says, \u201cthey even have a swimming pool!\u201d<\/p>\n And before I really knew what I was saying, I found the words came out of my lips:<\/p>\n \u201cHere sweetheart, everyone\u2019s a princess.\u201d<\/p>\n And somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I finished the sentence\u2026. \u201cEspecially you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n One life\u2026touches so many other lives\u2026.<\/p>\n ~ The way you used to feel, when you believed in make believe, and fairy tales were real? Remember, and make the dream come true, it\u2019s a magic celebration, and our special guest is you ~ Once in a very … Continue reading
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"