Jeffrey Zaslow - The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters

On February 10, 2012, just a month after The Magic Room was first published, Jeff Zaslow, beloved friend and author,was killed in a car accident on his way home from a book signing. This was the last thing he wrote.

F rom the start of my research, I was impressed with Shelleys daughter, Alyssa, a smart young woman whose work in the store had her sorting through her feelings about love, marriage, and her familys line of work. She knew the statistics: half the brides buying dresses from her could end up divorced. Why would some make it and others wouldnt?

In the days before The Magic Room went to press, I asked Alyssa, Any news? If she were to get engaged, I wanted to put it in the book. Nothing to report, Alyssa said with a sigh. Youll have to print the book without the fairy-tale ending.

The book ends with Alyssa still waiting, and after The Magic Room came out, Ellen McCarthy, a reviewer for The Washington Post, wrote that she admired Corys patience and maturity, his determination to make sure everything felt right. Stay strong, Cory, she wrote. Good marriages are not made of satin and lace.

A week later, to celebrate the books release, we had a party at the store in Fowler. Several hundred people showed up to get their books signed, many of them former Beckers brides. Later in the evening, after most of the crowd had left, Cory presented Alyssa with his copy of the book.

Open to page two hundred and thirty-seven, he said. On that page was the photo of Alyssa trying to grab the bridal bouquet. Cory had cut a square hole in the book, right at the tips of Alyssas reaching fi ngers. In that space, he put an engagement ring. In large letters he wrote: Will you marry me?

Alyssa tearfully said yes, and I could see the emotions on Corys facerelief, love, anticipation, maybe fear. All of us there were moved by this couples moment of commitment. And I had a strong feeling that in their patience they had helped give their marriage a vital foundation.

Alyssa, like one hundred thousand women before her, will soon become a Beckers bride.