By Brenda Boykin
Alderson
No Princes on White Horses
Since I am in the prime of my senior life, so are most of my friends. Those of my age group read the fairy tales of the female characters being rescued by a prince on a white horse. Girls envisioned themselves as little princesses. We had no doubts that some handsome prince was somewhere in this world just waiting to enter our lives. Boys thought they were gallant princes. Needless to say, as time has moved on, for most of us at least, the gender roles have changed. We would still like to believe in the fairy tales though.
I hate to inform those ladies of my age group that it is highly unlikely that a prince is going to show up now. First of all, age has and will continue to take its toll on you. If you are lucky enough to still be pretty, looking at you is about all any prince of our age group can do. Time has taken a toll on the prince also. You both need rescuing now, so don’t fool yourself.
Men don’t like being alone any more than you do, and they do have some advantage in the fact that there are more women alive than men. That can cause them to be convinced that there is a woman out there that would want to take care of them. Take notice that means that you take care of them, not the other way around. They hope you at least know how to cook, clean, and could keep up with their meds. Remember they were born in the same era you were, when that was what a woman was supposed to do and when their role was to be head of the family. That also means they are number one, not you. Times have changed but it does not mean they did, nor you either, if you still believe in a prince on a white horse.
Remember the prince had a horse. Do you want to take care of his horse too? In other words he comes with some baggage (often family) and so do you. Horses eat a lot and they have to be groomed. Horses leave bigger “patties” on the lawn than a big dog does. By now the horse is old and tired of carrying the old prince around. The horse probably wants to be put out to pasture, forgotten about and left alone. The horse may be waiting to make his break if only the old prince would find an old princess. On the other hand, the horse may resent you. You really have to look at the whole picture.
Above all, don’t use the internet to find a prince. I had one lady tell me she was looking for a fishing buddy. Right! If a man approached me with that line I sure would not swallow it and why would he? On the other hand it would be wise to approach anyone you meet through the internet with the attitude that something is fishy and frankly they should feel the same about you.