Petticoat Lane - 1930

Petticoat Lane - 1930, a photo by The Kansas City Public Library on Flickr.

PETTICOAT LANE, KANSAS CITY'S PLACE TO BE AT CHRISTMAS TIME...I remember this well. My aunt Dorothy used to take me downtown on the bus to see the Fairy Princess (don't laugh) at one of the major department stores, Emery, Byrd and Thayer.

Yes, a beautiful young lady with a wand. Instead of sitting on Santa's lap, I sat on the lap of the Princess and looked up into her beautiful eyes. If she asked me what I wanted, I most likely told her "...cowboy boots, Gene Autrey pistols, toy cars, trains, and lots more boy stuff.

Subconsciously, I probably wished she could have been my mother and one I could hug and be hugged by everyday. But my time with her was much too quick and ended with her sprinkling some sparkling Fairy dust on me and giving me a most electric hug. I remember how sweet she smelled; I remember her soft, curled hair sweeping gently across my face. Oh, the Fairy Princess was this young lad's sheer delight and I never gave Santa a thought. My aunt Dorothy was much older than the Fairy Princess, though she was pretty, she was nothing like the Princess.

Thankfully, it was my aunt and uncle who raised me from the time they pulled me out the orphanage at the age of 3 or 4 until I left home at the age of 18.

When I left home, I went seeking a Fairy Princess of my own. I think many men do the same.