As I start to write this, it is still Saturday, June 28th, 2003. This would have been my 17th Wedding
anniversary, had my Wife not passed away March 6th. It was a day I needed to do something different, something new, something
exciting to take my mind off what was promising to be a very down day.
(Bear with me, there is a lesson in this story...)
My son Matthew and I went to an amusement park here called Valley Fair.
We had Fun...
It's important to remember those we Love as we work.
To do something for them as well as ourselves.
Today, I needed to do something to remember my Wife Cara, to give Matthew and I a much needed escape
from the normal day to day, weekend to weekend stuff. Cara liked to have fun, and wants us to do the same, even without her.
So we went to Valley Fair.
Now, some of what happened today, might have put a damper on the day for some, to say the least. But let me explain how
the day developed.
First off, I now have a choice of two vehicles, My Wife's car or My Jeep, which has the top down for the summer. Matthew
wanted to take the Jeep. Well, the forecast called for a slight chance of scattered showers and it was a beautiful day so
far, so I thought we'd take the chance and take the Jeep.
Valley Fair is about a 45 minute drive from our house and we had a beautiful ride down. Sun shinning, warm and
wonderful.
After we parked, paid and got in the Park, the first ride we took was something called "The Wave." It
turned out to be a foreshadowing of things to come, we got Wet.
We moved on to other rides, including a Wet Coaster kind of ride on a rubber raft through dark tubes of rushing water.
Wet again...
More rides followed and we dried off.
Then we got in line for a ride called "Thunder Canyon." A water raft trip. We waited in line for a long
time as these things go. When we finally got to the front of the line and were about to get in our boat, they stopped the
ride... A Real Thunder Storm had moved in with real Lightening. So we attempted to wait it out under a thin covering that
was nowhere near adequate for the amount of rain coming down.
We got Wetter...
Matthew, by now, was asking to go home. I was telling him, "This is Minnesota, if you don't like the weather, wait
five minutes, it'll change."
That didn't quite work, but I kept telling him, the rain would move off and the sun would come out and we would dry off.
And I reminded him of who insisted on taking the Jeep, which was now in the parking lot in the middle of a thunder storm without
the top.
I told Matthew, "This is an Adventure." He didn't buy that one.
We gave up waiting, and headed out of "Thunder Canyon" and found a tunnel we'd taken to get to that
part of the Park and got out of the rain. We met some other refugees and waited for the rain to pass.
Well, as I predicted, the rain stopped, the sun came back out and we dried off.
Got some real good hot mini donuts, and something more to eat, and moved back into the Park for more rides. Including
something called "The Monster" which I thought might just be a little too much for Daddies stomach, but which
proved to be a very exciting and fun ride.
We had, by now, dried off. So, I said to Matthew, "Let's go back to 'Thunder Canyon' and take it now." He agreed,
and off we went.
No line this time and we got right in the first boat.
I thought I was Wet before.... But this ride took the cake, we both not only got WET, we got Soaked.
Matthew had so much fun, we turned around and went again. After all, what's a little more water when you're already soaked?
And we almost went a third time, but Matthew decided he'd had enough for this trip.
Daddy rung out his socks and off we went into the Park for a few more rides and fun, while trying to dry out as much
as the early evening weather would allow.
More rides followed, but this is not the end of our little lesson in making the best of it.
As the sun went down, more dark clouds arrived. We had no sooner gotten to the, somewhat damp Jeep,
when we heard thunder again, and saw lightening.
Fortunately, I did have the Jeep top rolled up in the back, no door tops, or side windows, but we had the top and the
back window. I worked fast getting that top up, and just made it as the rain hit. We drove home, mostly in the rain, but didn't
get that wet. I turned the heater on full blast, and Matthew fell asleep.
Home at last, we got into dry clothes, Matthew went to bed telling me what a good time he had, but next time we should
take the car, and not the Jeep.
And the point of this little story is this...
I could have sat at home, done normal Saturday stuff, felt lonely and sad, remembering that day, 17 years ago when my
Lady and I were Wed, and missed Her terribly. But I didn't, I took what would have been a very sad day, and turned it around
into something fun, something special.
I could have gotten mad at the weather, and been upset about getting so WET and cold. But I didn't, I turned it into
an Adventure, even Matthew agrees with that now that it's over. And we had fun, and a day to remember, not only for itself,
but for Cara, who I am sure was with us every step of the way, and having as much fun as we did. Though as Matthew pointed
out as we got his wet clothes off, "She didn't get wet."
So, when things get you down in this road of life, whether it's personal or business, you can either let them bring you
down, or you can take control of your time and your life, and make something special out of it.
The Moral: Don't let life get you down, do something for yourself and your family and have some Fun
no matter what gets in the way of it. Don't sweat the small stuff, have fun.
Right NOW, I have a very big smile on my face and that's much better then what has been there for so long.
