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A Cinderella Story

Contributed by: Erin Di Paolo on 10/14/2006

One of the benefits of traveling to another place is that sometimes we feel freer to be ourselves. Sometimes being ourselves means leaving our preconceived notions of who we are or who we should be and traveling in our minds to another realm. Sometimes it means we venture outside our comfort zone. This happened to my friend, Melissa, on our recent girlfriend getaway trip to Las Vegas.

When some think of Las Vegas, a transformation of a different kind comes to mind, mostly decadent in nature. Though all of those things do indeed transpire in Vegas, I witnessed a different type of metamorphosis while there. I saw a friend with a tomboy-like nature begin to become a princess. And it began to transform me as well.

Before we went on the trip, I instructed Melissa to bring something slinky for our night out at Mystere, a Vegas show that is part of the Cirque de Soleil family. She looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "I don't own anything slinky." I looked back at her in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding," I said. I could tell by the look on her face that she was definitely not jesting. She didn't even own any sexy tank tops! I couldn't believe she was one of my best friends!

Once we arrived, she proudly showed me the black skirt she was intending to wear to the event. It was nice, but not dazzling. And not even close to slinky. Now I admit that I am a bit of a girlie-girl, but my friends Lori and Tip, who also went on the trip to Vegas, make me look like the queen of tomboys! They are off the charts in the girlie-girl department. I don't even register when standing next to them.

Lori "just happened" to bring a sexy black dress along that fit Melissa perfectly. So it was decided then and there that she would wear it to the show that night. Lori and Tip did not go with us to Mystere, but they wanted to hang out with us beforehand as we got dolled up for the evening. Lori decided that Melissa needed her hair curled; Tip agreed. Then she needed her eyes done, her lips done, her cheeks done. You get the picture. A transformation was in the process. But it was so much more than purely physical.

I wish that I could have just sat down and taken it all in as Lori and Tip created a masterpiece with Melissa, determined to convert her into Cinderella for a night. I was so busy getting ready myself that I could not fully enjoy it.

When they were finished with their creation, Melissa looked glam, marvelous, stunning. I knew I would have competition for the evening! Who was this person going with me to a Vegas show? It could not have been my tomboy friend of 14 years, mother of six hockey-playing sons, owner of not one single pair of high heels. I know it sounds hokey, but Chris deBurg's "Lady in Red" kept playing in my mind, so much so that I had to sing some of the lyrics to Melissa. She really looked gorgeous.

What was even more beautiful, really the most amazing thing of all, was seeing women ministering to other women, loving them in such an intimate, unique, real way. Not cat fighting or back bighting or competing. Melissa admitted to me afterwards, with tears in her eyes, that the experience had taken her far out of her comfort zone. I could tell by the expression on her face during her primping period that this was indeed the case.

But at the same time, it meant so much to her. And she allowed her friends to love her in a way that was meaningful and tangible to them. In so doing, it became meaningful to her. And then it became meaningful to all of us.

I would never, ever want to trade the memories of that night for anything else on the face of the planet. It is right up there with visiting Yankee Stadium in New York and traveling to Israel, my favorite place on Earth.

Not only does the memory remain etched in my heart forever, so does the thankfulness to God that He created me a woman. Because of moments like these, I would never want to be anything else. Never.


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Showing 1 of 1 comments
Submitted By: Melissa Pascale
posted on 10/17/2006 @ 4:06:09 PM
Rated Story
Love the story! What an honor to have someone write about you! It was the wonderfullest of times!
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Erin Di Paolo

Denver , CO

Erin Di Paolo has posted 61 stories and 6 comments since joining on 3/18/2006. Erin Di Paolo 's average story rating is 4.81.
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