…and the shining star that stole my heart.

Disney has done it again. 

Not only were there frogs falling in love, adorable little girls, strong-women, amazing fathers, singing fireflies, and a backdrop of New Orleans….

THERE IS A CHARACTER IN THE MOVIE WITH THE NAME EVANGELINE! 

Not JUST a character, a shining star. 

Did I ever tell you my daughters name is Evangeline?  Eva is just her nickname.

So we are sitting there in the theater on opening night of the latest Disney princess movie with our little princess and there is a character with her name.  There is even a beautiful song with her name in it…”Look how she lights up the sky, Ma Belle Evangeline.”

For those of you that don’t know, Evangeline is the name of a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  It is a very lengthy poem, more of a book really.  In the poem Evangeline and Gabriel fall in love but through a series of harrowing events are separated.  They spend the rest of their lives trying to find each other again.  They both end up finally meeting again in New Orleans but they are old and dying.  They die in each others arms and are buried next to each other to be together forever in eternity. “Still stands the forest primeval; but far away from its shadow.  Side by side in their nameless graves , the lovers are sleeping.”

Nobody knows for sure if the story is actually true, it was a tale past down through generations, but the name Evangeline was the creation of Longfellow. 

Apparently the story of Evangeline and her lover is an important one in New Orleans culture.  There are statues of her, restaurants named after her, a parish and even a race track.  Which is evidently why it made it’s way into this movie about New Orleans.  I knew I was going to love this movie but now it really has a place in my heart.

-I should add that I had no idea the poem even existed when we named Evangeline.  The day I told my mom what we planned to name her she wandered into a used book store and saw the poem.

My title is a little bit sarcastic today.  This is more me just venting.  Toddlers are an interesting dichotomy of opposites.  They can be cute and loving one minute and obnoxious and defiant the next.  Evangeline has just recently entered the testing stage and man can she test mommy’s patience.  On a typical day she will wake up sweet and loving, just full of smiles and hugs and kisses.  She is easy and agreeable.  I say, “do you want milk?” and she nods happily and is content.  A few hours later she is demanding, and cries and screams if I get up to do anything.  Throw’s a tantrum if she can’t have something she wants.  Is defiant. This morning she threw her milk on the floor when she was done eating (her daily ritual).  When she got down I asked her to pick it up and put it on the table, which she normally does just fine.  Nope not today she sat there and stared at it and didn’t move. 

I am just sitting here this morning thinking… “how long does this time last for?”  She is only 18 months old, do I really have another 12-18 months of this?  When she is being cute and adorable I find myself loving this age and never wanting it to end.  But 2 seconds later she is throwing a tantrum and I am wondering, “when will it end?”