World Princess Week: Make-A-Wish® Alums Libby and Ella’s Letters to Belle and Cinderella

We’re celebrating World Princess Week with an all-new miniseries highlighting the transformative power of wishes that resonate long after they are granted and showing that once a princess, always a princess.

Meet Make-A-Wish^® alums and sisters Libby and Ella, who both had their Disney wishes granted in 2008 and 2011. Years after their wishes came true, they’re writing letters to the princesses they wished to meet, revealing the next chapter of their stories. Like Belle, Libby is chasing her own adventure in the “great wide somewhere,” continuing her education abroad. Ella is turning Cinderella’s kindness into a career helping others with disabilities find their place in the world.

Libby and Ella’s words are a powerful reminder of the lasting power of a wish and that real bravery lies in being true to one’s self.

Read Libby’s letter to Belle and Ella’s letter to Cinderella below!

Dear Belle,

Do you remember when we first met? I don’t think I could ever forget. I was four years old. I had just finished treatment for what was thought to be a terminal brain tumor, and I was on my Make-A-Wish trip eating breakfast at Akershus and eagerly awaiting to see you and all of your princess friends. I had seen the story of your journey from when you started reading and daydreaming of far off places and daring sword fights, to bravely rescuing your father and eventually meeting all sorts of new and interesting friends and experiencing the grand adventure you had been dreaming of.

I saw your ball gown around the corner in the restaurant, and I nearly fell out of my chair with excitement when you arrived at my table. We talked all about your adventure. I shared that I wanted to go on my own adventure one day, and you replied that you were confident I one day would. As I got older, I only related to you more.

I loved reading and disappearing into a story. I hoped that people would see me as intelligent and brave. You reassured me that it was okay to be unique and have different interests from my neighbors and the people in my town. You inspired me to keep learning, making connections, and adventuring even when I was scared. Every time that I visited you at Disney World, I would update you on my life and adventures.

Now, 18 years after our first meeting, I’m about to embark on my biggest adventure yet. This spring, I graduated from the University of Michigan after four years of learning. This fall, I’ll continue my education at the University of Virginia. They have an amazing library, by the way, through their global Commerce program, I’ll first go to Virginia to grow my knowledge, and then I’ll spend six months in Berlin, Germany, learning, exploring, meeting new people, and having the grandest adventure I could dream of.

I plan to travel not only in Germany, but all around Europe. Who knows, maybe I’ll even make it to France. I’m not sure if I’ll encounter any magic spells, but I’m positive I will visit many castles. Maybe we could have breakfast together again soon so that I can update you on my journey. Thank you for being such an inspiration for my own adventure in the great wide somewhere.

Love,
Libby

Dear Cinderella,

Hi. It’s me, Ella. It’s been quite a while since I first learned your story. I remember being a five year old girl with eyes full of wonder, and a heart full of dreams and desires.

It certainly feels like every little girl wants to be a princess. And what’s not to love? The huge castle, the fancy dress, and the happily ever after waiting at the end – and you had all of that. Which initially is what caught my eye. I truly idolized you, your grace, and elegance. And we had the same name. Naturally, I was going to become infatuated with you and your story.

But as I grew, the tale of a kind girl of humble origins becoming royalty grew with me and I started to understand the true meaning behind the curtain of glittering magic and dreamy songs. My admiration was now about more than a shared name. Because you and I share so much more than simply a name. Much like you, I came from a challenging background. Different challenges, yes, but challenges all the same.

I was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma before I was even born. My mom had me early and I started treatment at two days old. For a while, me and my family weren’t really sure how much of a happily ever after I would get.

After many long weeks of pokes, examinations and chemotherapy, I officially was cancer free. I lost an eye in the process, but I was alive and well. Life and people weren’t always kind to me growing up. I knew I’d always be different from the other kids in my class. It was easy to feel excluded or behind, but I dreamed of a day where the magic would come to me, where my fairy godmother would come and grant my wishes.

And on one fateful day in 2011, my fairy godmother did come. So instead of a periwinkle cloak and a magic wand, mine wore a blue and white Make-A-Wish shirt and asked a very important question: who did I most want to meet? Where did I most want to go? Or what did I most want to be? I chose to meet you, Cinderella.

And so my Make-A-Wish trip to Walt Disney World in Florida came to be.

I’ve carried that wish with me every day leading up to writing this letter. I carried it and you in my heart through elementary school, finding those who had no one to play with or sit by, the same way you rescued the mice when they had nowhere to go. I carried you with me into middle school, where I was tested and my dreams and abilities were called into question, and I was told what I could and couldn’t do by society around me.

But you always said that if I kept on believing, the dreams I wished would come true. So I never gave up. And I carried you with me into high school, where if the people could be cruel and disheartening, it could have been so easy to respond with that same cruelty, or grow to be unhappy and unmotivated.

But I remembered the kindness you showed to your stepmother and stepsisters, who treated you so poorly and decided to do the same. And so life went on. I realized what I truly admired about you. It wasn’t the dress, the palace, the magical carriage or dance with the prince. Not even the shared name. It was your benevolence. No matter how terrible the world was to you, you still stayed kind.

You treated everyone with respect, from the meanest of stepmothers to the smallest of creatures. You repaid ruthlessness with compassion. Apathy with empathy. You gave the vulnerable a place to belong and feel safe. And no matter how hard things got, you never gave up hope in your dreams.

And that leads me to today. I’m a college student at Michigan State studying Human Resources with the dream of helping other people with disabilities in the workforce in mind.

I can see my happily ever after shining ahead and helping others find their happily ever after. Just like you. The world didn’t change me for the worse. It changed me for the better. I’ll have your example of kindness and warmth to guide me forever. Cinderella. Thank you.

Yours truly,
Ella.