The Princess Was a Pauper

the 2016 Royal Court; Donaly Marquez is at far right                     Pasadena Tournament of Roses®

Donaly Marquez is not your typical 17-year-old, and that's not just because she rode in this year's Rose Parade as a Royal Court princess. This particular princess was born to an abusive, drug-addicted mother and, as a little child barely old enough to take care of herself, looked after her younger siblings as they all moved from house to house, motel room to motel room. Obviously, not everyone with this kind of background is able to survive it, let alone thrive, and Donaly's story so far has as much to do with her spirit as it does with luck and the kindness and persistence of strangers: http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-0101-rose-court-20160101-story.html
   For those who might not recognize it, the title of this post comes from a short historical fiction by Mark Twain called The Prince and the Pauper, about two boys ~ Edward, Prince of Wales, and Tom Canty, a boy from a very poor family ~ who look exactly alike, and what happens when they meet by chance one day and exchange clothes. You can read it for free at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1837