There was once a little girl who loved her father very much. Her mother had died when she was very little, so little that she couldn't remember her, and though she often wondered what it would be like to have a mother she was grateful for a father who spent so much time with her and treated her like a princess.
Every day her father worked in his wood shop next to the house, and she would watch in wonder as he turned ugly boards and logs into beautiful beds and tables and chairs. Every night after supper they would sit by the fire and her father would tell her stories of knights and ladies in faraway places. The stories always ended with “happily ever after,” and then she would fall asleep in his arms and wake up when he carried her to bed and say to him groggily, “Papa, will you still be here when I wake up in the morning?”
“Of course, my princess, I will always be here for you,” he would reply. And then she would fall asleep with a smile on her face and dream of happily ever after.
As she got older she began helping her father cook and take care of the house, but they still sat by the fire every evening while he told her stories. Sometimes he would make up new adventures, and sometimes she would ask him to tell the same stories, her favorite stories, over and over again. Every night before she fell asleep she would ask him, “Papa, will you still be here when I wake up in the morning?” And he would reply, “Of course, my princess, I will always be here for you.”
One evening he said to her, “You are getting to be such a big girl, it's time for you to go to school. There is a teacher in the village and she can show you how to read and write and do sums. Would you like to be able to do those things?”
She thought for a moment and said, “I don't know what sums are, and I've heard that there are wonderful stories in books, but they can't be half as nice as the stories you tell. I think, though, that I would like to learn to write so I can copy down your stories and have them with me forever.” Her father smiled and told her a new story about a little girl who loved to learn.
The next morning was the first day of school, and the little girl was suddenly afraid.
“Why does it feel like there are butterflies flying around in my stomach?” she asked.
He smiled at her and said, “That's just what it feels like when you're about to experience something new. You're nervous and scared, because change can sometimes be hard. But it can also be wonderful and exciting, and without it you wouldn't become the beautiful grown-up princess you will someday be.”
“Does everything have to change?” she asked as the butterflies in her stomach fluttered more violently.
“A lot of things change over time,” he said, “but some things never do.”
“Will you be here when I get back?” she asked.
“Of course, my princess, I will always be here for you.”
“Will you still tell me stories?”
“Anytime you ask.”
“Then I'll be okay,” she said, and the butterflies settled down and went to sleep.
Her father was right. She loved school, she loved reading and writing and sometimes she even loved doing sums. With her new skills she wrote down her father's stories and made up some of her own.
She was quickly becoming a beautiful young woman, but she found that life got more complicated as she grew. One night she came to her father with tears in her eyes and said, “Papa, please don't hate me. I've done something awful.”
“I could never hate you, my princess, no matter what you've done. Tell me what happened.”
When she finished her tearful confession he put his arms around her, forgave her, and told her a true story.
“One day, just after you were born, your mother was busy taking care of you and trying to keep up with the housework. It was all so new to her, and she was feeling overwhelmed with responsibility. Then she leaned over to pick you up and saw something in your eyes that made her realize everything would be okay. She told me about it when I came home, and I knew from that moment that you carried the light of heaven within you. It is still there, it will always be there, and if you let it guide your actions you will be happy and bless the life of everyone you meet.”
That night, just as she did every night, she said, “Papa, will you still be here when I wake up in the morning?”
“Of course, my princess, I will always be here for you,” he replied. And then she fell asleep and dreamed of heaven.
Many years passed. The girl went to a new school in a faraway place, and one day she wrote her father a letter.
“Dear papa, I've been having such a wonderful time at school and am learning so much. I miss you and there are difficult days, but I am happy and have made so many new friends. I met a boy named Paul who has kind eyes and strong but gentle hands, just like you, and he makes me laugh. I think I'm falling in love.”
When he read her letter his eyes filled with tears, and he began his reply, “My princess, I'm so glad you've found someone to love…”
A few months went by and she came home to visit, bringing Paul with her.
“What do you think of him, papa?” she asked breathlessly when Paul was in the other room.
“It doesn't really matter what I think of him,” he replied. “What matters is what you think of him. If he makes you happy, then I am content.”
She smiled and threw her arms around him. “He does make me happy, and he's asked me to marry him. I think a spring wedding would be nice.”
The next few months were a blur, and soon she was wearing a white dress and standing next to her father, feeling the familiar butterflies in her stomach.
“Everything is going to be different now, isn't it, Papa?” she asked.
“A lot of things change over time,” he said, “but some things never do.”
“Will you be here when I come to visit?” she asked.
“Of course, my princess, I will always be here for you.”
“Will you still tell me stories?”
“Anytime you ask.”
“Then I'll be okay.”
Soon the little girl became a mother and told her father's stories to her children every night before bed. Sometimes they visited their grandfather and heard those same stories again, and they loved them just as much as their mother did.
More years passed. The girl who was now a woman visited her father as often as she could and took care of him when he was sick. He still told her stories when he was feeling well enough, but she knew his voice would someday be silenced.
One day when she came to visit he lacked the strength to get out of bed. There was nothing the doctors could do, so she cared for him and cried for him and prayed for him and, since he could barely speak, she told him stories while she sat next to his bed.
She stayed with him for many days. One morning he opened his eyes and reached for her. “It's time,” he whispered.
She took his hand and asked, “Papa, will I see you again?”
“Of course, my princess,” he said quietly. “I will always be here for you.”
“Will you still tell me stories?”
“Anytime you ask.”
“Then I'll be okay,” she said. And he closed his eyes for the last time.
She grieved, but she found comfort in her memories and knew that her father would always be with her. He had never broken a promise, and she looked forward to the day when she would see him again and listen to his stories and hear him call her his princess. She never forgot his words and knew that they were true: “A lot of things change over time, but some things never do."
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