Once upon a time, a little girl from Grand Rapids, Mich., was looking for a forever home. She had been living with a foster family for close to two years but still, all was not quite right. She wanted a home to call her own.
Then one day, this little five-year-old, whose name was Danielle Koning, had her wishes come true.
This week, her foster parents, Jim and Sarah Koning, attended the final court hearing to adopt both Danielle and another little girl.
Danielle came along in a princess gown and, to give her the fairy-tale ending she had always dreamed of, the court soon filled with Disney princesses.
Eight case workers entered, dressed as Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming, and more. Even family court Judge Patricia Gardner played a part, dressing as Snow White.
When the moment came for Judge Gardner to make her final decision on the adoption, Danielle got to go behind the bench and strike the gavel, while Gardner and the court gallery called out, “It is so ordered!”
May they all live happily ever after.
