H is for Happily Ever After

Everybody wants one. But do they actually exist outside of romance novels?

As a writer of romantic fiction (and as a self-described hopeless romantic) I would certainly like to think so. And I’ve seen actual examples of what looks like Happily Ever After in the real world. At least, to me anyway. For instance, my husband’s parents were married for over 60 years when my father-in-law passed away. That’s a long time to spend with someone you’re not happy with. And they definitely appeared to be content with one another’s company – they knew each other inside and out.

If they had been the only happy couple that I ever witnessed with my own eyes, just the fact that it had happened for them gives me hope for the rest of us. In an age where people get divorced as often as they change their socks, it’s heartening to see examples of true love here and there, even if they’re only small ones. Each and every glimpse, no matter how fleeting, gives me hope and bolsters my belief in the concept of Happily Ever After. I believe that they do exist. They are not some mystical, mythological creature that only exist between the pages of fantasies. They are real. They are out there. And we can all have one. We just have to have a little faith.