I grew up in an abusive household, so I didn't associate marriage with "true love" or "happily ever after." In fact, I expected if I did have a romantic relationship it would end in tragedy. However, I have always loved fairy tales. I love Beauty and the Beast, both the original tale and the Disney movie. I also like the fairy tale The Little Mermaid, which has a very sad ending, as many older fairy tale versions do. I do believe that love is beautiful and relationships can be beautiful, but they do require hard work. Romance and innocence can be kept alive through hard work and maintaining personal integrity. I do believe if we work on ourselves and try hard and we're with a person who is right for us (and I believe there is more than one potentially "right" person) we can have something of a "happy ever after."