The Roller Coaster Ride

You prepare yourself for the ride - you do lots of research finding the right one - you save your money, you stand in line and when you get to the front you are relieved to find you meet the height requirement.

You know this is going to be a crazy ride but you have pumped yourself up for it. How bad could it be really? Everyone else getting off the ride as you get on is smiling and looks happy. Oh sure there are a few people who look a little green in the face but you are strong, you can make it thru with grace and style.

As you get on the ride you are giddy with anticipation. Your palms are sweaty, and your stomach turns nervously! You belt yourself in tightly - you don't want to fall off - no, that wouldn't be cool.

You say a little prayer that the tracks won't fall off or the ride attendant won't fall asleep. You lean back and tell yourself "enjoy the ride".

As you go up the first incline - you are happy, happy you were brave enough to get on the ride. You look at the people who are standing watching the ride - they are too scared to even think about it - they admire you for your bravery...or your lunacy - whatever!

You are seated somewhere in the middle of the ride - you see there a quite a few people ahead of you at the front of the ride - oh how you wish you were there. You turn and look behind you and see the people behind you, their grins telling you it will be o.k - we are in this together!

As you nose dive down the first hill, you think, "heck, ya! I can do this!"

Then the twists and turns start to come - you brace yourself for the next turn, your hair whips around your face and you hold on as tight as you can making your knuckles go white.

You can't believe how long the ride is - when you were in line no one told you it would be so long. You start to panic and wonder if the ride attendant did, indeed, fall asleep - did he forget he had passengers? - will he wake up and bring us home?

As you hurtle thru the ups and downs and twists and turns, you hear others yelling too, you know you are not alone - you take comfort that you are not the only one yelling at the top of their lungs.

You start to feel nauseous - you might not be able to hold on very much longer - you grasp on to your husband because he is stronger and won't let you fly off the ride!!

You scream out "WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?" and "I WOULD LIKE OFF NOW!". The attendant just smiles and says "Soon, you will be able to get off soon. You are almost to the end, but you need to hold on just a little longer."