Did this ever happen to you?

I was five or six years old. Let’s say six.

It was a gorgeous early-summer night. The sky was darkening – it must’ve been around 8:00 p.m. or so. My parents and I were out on the balcony of our apartment, just sitting and relaxing. We lived in a modest third-floor walk-up near the centre of Montreal.

Then I noticed, looking up at the sky, a very bright star. It was brighter than all the other stars that night. I pointed it out to my mom and dad, and my mom said, “Why don’t you make a wish? You know, like in Pinocchio, you can wish upon a star. Maybe it’ll come true, you never know.”

I looked at her doubtfully. As a child, I was not at all the optimist I am now. (Who knows why? That could be a subject for another post! 😀 )

But I thought, Nothing to lose by trying. “Close your eyes,” said my mom. So I faced that big shining star, shut my eyes tight, and wished as hard as I could.

When I finished, I opened my eyes and said to my mom, “I hope it’s gonna work. But it probably won’t…” (I must’ve sounded like gloomy Eeyore in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories right then!)

After a bit, just as we were about to get up and go inside, the doorbell rang. We all looked at each other. “Who could that be?” my mom asked my dad.

“I don’t know, we’re not expecting anyone. Are we?”

“No… strange at this hour… Let’s go see.”

So the three of us went inside, and my parents rang the buzzer to let in whoever-it-was.

Well this was a surprise! Up the stairs climbed my Uncle Stanley and Auntie Ethel. What were they doing here? They lived far away, in Quebec City! But now here was my Auntie Ethel, carrying a very big white cardboard box. Its shape was long and rectangular.

Kisses and hugs all around when they came into our foyer. Yes, it seems they were visiting Montreal for a few days. I didn’t catch the reason, but no matter, it was nice to see them – a big surprise!

The next thing I knew, Auntie Ethel was handing me the big white box! She said, “This is an early birthday present for you, darling. Okay? We hope you like it.”

My jaw dropped: I grasped the box in my arms, pulled off the ribbons and took off the cover.

Lo and behold! My jaw dropped wider and I gasped at what I saw. Inside lay a very large, very beautiful, very lifelike doll with spun-gold hair, milky-white skin, wearing a gorgeous pink frilly dress.

I could barely talk. I stared at my aunt and uncle, then my mom and dad, my mouth forming an “O.”

And I said to them, breathless, to the room, to the heavens above, “The wish! …I wished… I wished… for a new doll.”

I named her Candy.

Oh, and it turns out they had won her at an amusement park.

It was meant to be. Right?