Princesses look beautiful but stand tough - think Cinderella, sweeping fireplaces and shrugging off her stepsisters' disdain; think Sleeping Beauty, poisoned by the evil queen but defeating her in the end. By all accounts, Delaney Jeannette Coleman deserves top rank in the Princess Hall of Fame.

"Delaney was just a delight every single day," says Michelle, a receptionist at Children's Hemology and Oncology Associates in Denver. "She was our princess."

Last Halloween, Delaney showed up at the clinic in a dinosaur costume and ran around growling at the staff, trying to scare them.

"Her mother said Delaney could be interested in princesses one second, then flip to dinosaurs the next," Dana Wirtz, wish coordinator at Casper's Make-A-Wish, recalls.

Delaney packed lots of living into her 2 1/2 years: giggling, swinging in the park for hours, walks, playing 'hide from Daddy' in her princess castle, curling up after a hard day's play with Mommy, Daddy, and her blankie "Purple." A born aristocrat, she reigned over tea parties for her puppy, Daphne, and loved dressing up like a princess. She was, her mother Becky says, a real "girly girl."

About two months before her 2nd birthday, doctors diagnosed Delaney with a brain tumor. For the next year, Delaney and her family split their time between Gillette and Denver while the tiny girl fought for her life.

"She took her lumps as a champ," Michelle says, her voice getting thick. "For as little as she was, she was strong."

She charmed the clinic workers so much that when they picked up donated toys, they'd go through the boxes, seeking out playthings they thought Delaney would love. "We found a pogo pony once," Michelle remembers. "It glittered and lit up and whinnied and neighed and talked, and we knew Delaney would love it. We had almost as much fun as she had playing with it."

Delaney's greatest wish: To dish about the princess life with a fellow royal at Disney World. Make-A-Wish arranged the trip.

Each trip requires having a child's doctor sign forms, and most wishes take about six months to set up, Dana says - although, if necessary, some can be arranged in two to three days. This past fiscal year, the Casper group set up 23, and more are always in the pipeline.

As hard as Delaney fought, the cancer fought harder. Delaney's life began slipping away. Her mother called Make-A-Wish to say Delaney's condition had worsened; Dana rearranged the trip in one day.

"It's a huge tribute to her family - her parents and grandparents made life as easy and as comfortable as possible for her," Michelle says.

In Orlando, Fla., the family stayed at Give Kids the World, a village that caters to families with sick children. There, Delaney fell in love with Mayor Clayton, a huge aqua bunny. She tired quickly at Disney, sometimes able to stay only a few hours, but when the family returned to Give Kids the World, she could get on the carousel without waiting in line and ride as long as she wanted.

Delaney had tea with Princess Aurora - aka Sleeping Beauty - and met Cinderella. She ate ice cream to her heart's content.

Two days after the family returned to Wyoming, on Aug. 24, 2006, Delaney succumbed to her cancer, leaving behind her blankie, her puppy, her mom Becky, her dad Victor, and many relatives and friends.

"She has left a huge, huge impression on all of us," Michelle says, "and now there's a big, huge hole."

But that's always the way with true princesses - they dazzle us, they find their way into our hearts, and then they move on, taking their sunshine but leaving the memory of deep blue skies.