Great America

"Henry we're ready."

It's 10:25AM Saturday morning. I told Francisco I'll pick him up at 10:30 and take him to Great America. When was the last time he called me to tell me he's early?? Little rascal....he wouldn't stop bugging me about the rain.
"Why it stay open if it rains? Will the rides go faster if it's slippery?"
I never knew I had this much patience.

So we get there and decided to stay in a group. His fault for picking girls to come with him. We rode the Vortex, Demon, and Grizzly. I kept on mocking him for being scared of DropZone, even doing the "chicken" routine. He finally gave in. We lined up for DropZone while Joycie waited with the girls. Boy was he scared. Poor kid didn't say a word when we were strapped in. Had his eyes closed, his lips were pale. But man!! Once we got off, he woudln't stop bugging me to do it again!!! and again!! and again!!

The weather report said there was 100% of rain. Lucky for us, it rained for about 5 minutes and the rest of the time was sunny. Must've made a lot of kids happy.

I still remember back in the Sts. Peter and Paul days when Great America was the ultimate bomb. Every year, we'd look forward to that one day when we can skip school and go to this magical kingdom of fun. I'm much too jaded to appreciate that now. But while Joyce and I stood on the outskirts watching the kids go up on down on a stupid kiddie ride, laughing and giggling like there's no trouble, it made me realize how special that very moment was. For them, and for myself. 10-15 years from now, those kids probably won't even remember me or my name. But when it's their turn to take their kids to Great America, they may reminisct their child hood and vaguely picture a tall skinny Chinese guy offering them the time of their life....even if only a day.