It had been such a long time since I had seen Cinderella and even after my niece had gone home, I was still captivated by the film's magic and music.

When the fairy godmother turned the pumpkin into the carriage and the mice into the horses, I smiled and believed like a little girl.

When Cinderella turned up to the ball wearing her gorgeous, sparkling gown, my heart felt all light and happy with her as she danced around the castle and fell in love at first sight with the handsome prince.

It was not until the final wedding scene and the obligatory Disney closing line of ... "and they lived happily ever after" that my cynical and grown-up self snapped back to earth.

"Happily ever after," I snorted "Ha, so that's where we get all our messed-up views of love and romance from Walt Disney."

I quickly caught myself ... "Hang on a minute, I'm not cynical about love. When did this happen?"

I used to dream about meeting my perfect man and falling madly in love.

Have I stopped believing in "happily ever after?" Is it naive to be romantic and think that this kind of fairy-tale love can exist? Or are too many of us too cynical and have we closed our minds to the possibility of it?

All we seem to hear these days is the statistics about failed marriages and love gone wrong. What about the fairy-tale love stories?

I know that some of us are cynical for a good reason. We have been through tough times and had what we thought was the perfect love crumble around us, and leaving us with the feeling that happy endings are gone forever. But, sometimes, I think it can be good for us to believe in true and lasting love.

I am lucky enough to have seen one such story in real life, that of my Mum and Dad who are still madly in love after nearly 40 years of marriage.

So maybe the love seen in fairy tales does exist after all. We just need to be reminded of it from time to time. It's easy to be cynical and think "happily ever after" only exists in fairy tales.

I think believing in love isn't always easy, and sometimes we need a good dose of Disney to remind us that there are happy couples living that dream.

Growing up, I was such a true romantic and I think a part of that will never die in me no matter how many failed relationships or unhappy endings I endure. I will keep dreaming that my Prince Charming is still out there with a glass slipper with the right fit just for me.

JD