When I was a little kid, the story “The Princess and the Pea” from “One Thousand and One Nights” never made any sense to me. My gosh, a pea under 20 mattresses disturbing the sleep of a real Princess? That was simply incomprehensible. Oh well, not until I encountered my wife, the Princess Pea, as I called her. In our home, we set our thermostat at 72 degrees Fahrenheit when it was hot, and at 74 degrees in cold weather. Honestly, that was barely cutting it. Princess Pea thrived between 72 and 73 degrees. Dared to go beyond? Princess Pea went lethargic in heat or shivering in cold very fast in a few hours. Even the tropical fish in my aquarium tank could tolerate a bigger temperature range from 75 to 80. Of course, if it was just temperature, a simple thermostat could handle that. Her ultra sensitivity went beyond just physical body. She was also emotionally sensitive.
Like all other Princess, Princess Pea was pure at heart. Even after years of being in the mundane world, she retained her child-like nature without any traces of contamination. She was one of the kind. Her inner innocence was unveiled only if you pay close attention, and let her be herself. Looking into her big eyes decorated with long eye brows, it would purify your being and transform you into her playmate as another innocent child.
Her giggles were cherubic. If you could catch her at the glimpse, you would see just a three year old girl being blissful, as if you were teleported to heaven, and no vice of this world could penetrate the happy moment.
She was also a Pisces, with literally two or more fish/entity within her being. Marrying to her was like marrying to multiple women at the same time. Only if you would examine closely, you would find all different characters emerging at one time or another. Her eyes, fingers, and toes could speak to you. It was not easy to explain until you saw them for yourself. When Princess Pea enjoyed a delicious snack on a sofa, you could see her ten toes talking among themselves discussing each bite and expressing little amazement. As she picked up each piece of cookie, different fingers would check the shape of cookie from different angles. If one of the fingers touched some dented or chipped corner, it would almost instantly shy away, and then come back slowly to weigh the pro and con of the tiny imperfection of the cookie shape versus its delicious taste to decide if it was worth proceeding to eat it.
Despite of all her ultra sensitivities and her child-like nature, Princess Pea managed to grow up and assumed responsibilities. As a housewife, she cooked and made every meal an artwork. She paid attention to how each flavor mixed, how different food color was collaged, and how nutrients were accounted. Her prepared food was always full with thoughts and perfectly put together. As a mother, she pampered her children with toys, love, praises, and anything that would be required. The amount of Pokemon trading cards, Legos, video games in her house could not be counted and was probably enough to open two children entertainment centers. Once during a move, it was revealed that the unopened Lego boxes alone could be stacked up almost to ceiling as two separate stacks. Otherwise, nobody had ever counted the toys Princess Pea bought for her children. Her children was her life. I could barely recall any harsh scolding at kids from her. If any, it was always conveyed at softly controlled voice. There was practically nothing that she would not do for her kids, including growing up for them if she could.
