The Evil Queen

Otherwise known as... Not Quite the Fairest of Them All... :-)

My friend, Most Irish Name Ever, hereby renamed Min, is running the Princess 1/2 Marathon at Walt Disney World this Sunday.  Min is one of my oldest friends; we met over 25 years ago and were roommates in my first year after college.  When we discovered that we were both going to be in the race, we contemplated running together... which sounded great, except for one thing: Neither of us train with any other human being.

A slight hiccup to our plan.

In the end, we decided to run individually, and meet up at the end, which was essentially what Linette and I did last year.  I am comfortable with this scenario, and it is comforting to know that Min will be nearby.

I drove out to Coronado Springs Resort on the Disney property tonight to attend the Princess Expo, only to be turned away to park at Downtown Disney and ride a bus to the resort due to parking availability.  But I'm staying here tomorrow!

Sorry!  The dude had the most cheerful smile.  I concurrently loathed and appreciated his disposition.  Begrudgingly, I made a dutiful u-turn, and drove to the designated parking area.  I hadn't planned to spend more than an hour at Disney this evening.  In the end, it was about a four-hour process, but that's okay.  On the bus ride to the Expo, I met a really adorable nurse and firefighter couple from St. Augustine-- with their six-month old-- who will be running in the 5k tomorrow.

At the Expo, I met up with Min and a friend of hers whose birthday is tomorrow.  We compared shirt purchases, sought out magnets, headbands, and sneaker bling, and enjoyed a bit of time together.  She told her friend, Jen called me yesterday to make sure I had what I needed to check in for the race.  I love that after all these years she's still taking care of me.

Min, I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't.

Then I showed her my proud purchase:  A t-shirt proclaiming Evil Queen.  It's very me, isn't it?

Jen, it's perfect.

Let's be clear:  I am not an evil queen, but I am far from a princess, and rail against the princess-ization (there must be a better word!) of today's young girls.  I even heard a mother today call her daughter Princess rather than her actual name.  Several times.

Oh dear.

If a young girl is a princess, where can she go from there?  What kind of expectations will she have in her relationships?  Nothing good can come from a young girl being called Princess.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Min knows I am far from an Evil Queen, but she knows my life, and decisions, are pretty structured, and I can come off as abrasive despite the best of intentions. 

On the bus ride back to my car, I met a woman who was running her first 1/2 marathon.  She is fast, hoping to break two hours.  She gets up at 4:15 in the morning to go to the gym before work.  That is hard core.  I told her about my experiences last year, running the 1/2 marathon during Disney's Marathon Weekend.

I lost my dad a week before the race.  It had been the hardest week of my life, and Dad had been very proud of my training.  I ran strong and the race was amazing.  It was after the race that the hard work began.  Doing the Princess is my way of coming back.

You know, Jen, I think we were meant to sit together, and your experiences make me feel better about running the race on Sunday.  

I couldn't have agreed more.  Although having to take a bus to and from the Expo was inconvenient, I was privileged to have had such rich exchanges with strangers.

Even if I am an evil queen.