Vacation - A Parable

After scoring a killer deal on some season tickets, my husband and youngest kid and I packed up the family truckster (VW Jetta), plugged the hotel address into the GPS (2 hours and 21 minutes), and set off on a whirlwind vacation to Wally World (Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois.)

My husband and I have always loved rollercoasters and, for many years, our older kids were scared to death and wouldn't ride. We finally got them hooked, then they went and grew up and moved away (the AUDACITY!), so now we have this new little guy to indoctrinate. Thankfully, he's a daredevil (sometimes just the second half of the word) and will try almost anything. Two years ago, the first time we took him to Six Flags, he wanted to ride it all and was about three inches too short to do so. This year, he hit exactly the magic number (54" tall) to be able to ride things not just WITH us, but on his own if he wanted as well.

I want to preface this by saying, I'm not afraid to die. I believe in an afterlife and hey, even if I'm wrong, I won't know, will I? But losing my loved ones - that's my greatest fear. Years of going on coasters without anxiety flew out the window once I had kids. I'd hang tightly onto them with one arm behind their head or just plain close my eyes and pray that nothing would go wrong. Same was true this vacation - I think the most danger was that I might suffocate the child with my 'safety' precautions!

The thrill of flight is something I've always wished for - maybe that'll be in the afterlife!? - but rollercoasters are the closest I've ever gotten to feeling that rush.

It all goes by so fast.

You wait and you wait and finally, you get to the front of the line.

You've heard things, but you're still not sure what to expect. Everyone has a different version! It's exciting, thrilling, scary, sickening. I loved it! I hated it! It's the best feeling ever. It's the worst thing I've ever felt. I laughed the whole time. I passed out. I cried. I couldn't stop smiling!

Finally, you climb aboard. You use all the precautions they have in place and you still don't feel quite ready, but you go ahead with it because you figure at this point, there's no stopping the ride so you'd better hang on for dear life.

It kicks into a slow gear and you feel like maybe you have a handle on all of this, it's no big deal. It even starts to slow down a little, but then you get a strange feeling in your stomach like ... maybe something different's about to happen?

And then... then you're staring down that first drop. It looks like there's no way you'll survive - you can't even see the end of it! You feel all of those emotions at once - excited, thrilled, scared, sick, anxious, elated - and with no time to process any of them, down you go. Your insides shoot up into your brain and then back down into your toes as you fly feet first around an upside-down loop that, in no uncertain terms, looks and feels physiologically impossible and then, within two seconds, you're back to a smooth, straight track, thinking - is that all there is?

Nope.

There are corkscrews you didn't see coming, inverted drops you weren't expecting, long loops you think will last forever, and then, when it's finally over - having run the gamut of emotions in such a short span of time - you feel obligated to determine, was it worth it?

Hell, yeah.

That's an accurate description of parenthood, isn't it?

That's also an accurate description of life itself.

They're not little for very long and, no matter how prepared you think you are, you aren't.

We're not on this Earth for long, and we may love some parts and hate others, but when you get to the end, you'll hopefully realize that it sure was worth it.

It's all a rollercoaster: relationships, family, community, love, life.

I really hope you decide to stay for the ride.

I'll be right here with you, my arm around the back of your neck to keep you safe, screaming LET'S GO!

-Stephanie