For as long as I can remember, I wanted to fall in love.

Cinderella, Belle, Snow White – they had it all.

In my imagination, after the picture-perfect wedding to the most handsome Prince Charming, they went on to have a family and live happily ever after. It is the dream of most every little girl, and I knew, specifically, how I wanted it to play out for me. I wanted to have been friends for a while before we dated, get married at 21, and then have kids at 24.

As I grew older, this dream was persistent. It changed, just slightly, as the years went on; ages changed, give or take a few years, and as new crushes moved in, the face of my groom certainly changed, but my dream of happily ever after never wavered. In fact, am currently almost 22 years old and this dream is still just as present in my heart. But right now, there is just one little issue:

I’m single. There is no Prince Charming in the picture.