"The Little Prince" and How I Learned to Appreciate

Feb 23
2 min read

Updated: Feb 25

Today I want to share:

Pictured: 1st grade. Jefferson Elementary School. Costume Parade.

1994. San Diego. Halloween.

Story Time:

October was nearing, and it was that illustrious time all children look forward to, embodying their favorite characters. But our family was barely getting by, so the only alternative was to make a costume.

Being 7 years old, I still couldn’t grasp why I couldn’t have a store-bought costume. My mother, trying her best, went to the local Salvation Army and combed through all the garments.

She pulled out a strange dress and said, “This will make you the perfect little princess.” I looked at it, and to me it didn’t look like a princess gown. To me, it just reminded me I couldn’t be a real princess. I disgruntledly agreed, and we went over to the home goods section.

She paused for a moment and looked around, and with trembling hands she removed a metallic part of a lampshade. She whispered to me, “We can’t have our little princess walking around without a proper crown.”

As she rummaged through Salvation Army, she also found some plastic gemstones and adornments. We went home, and she enthusiastically started to glue gems all over the dress and the crown.

She had me try on the dress and said, “Now you look like my little principita.” And I looked over, confused. “Don’t you mean ‘princess’?” And she said, “No. My pequeña principita.”

“The Little Prince” Novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry @marinerbooks

Then she took out a small white book with the image of a little blond boy sitting on a tiny planet. She looked at me and said, “Sometimes the most simple things are the things that have more meaning.”

I became obsessed with this book.

When I went to school, everyone loved my costume. And that’s when I understood how creative and profound my mother’s love for me was.