MAKE THE MOST OF IT!

“Adventure is what happens when you just did something stupid.” ~Professor Bernie

Ah, Professor, Bernie, is that what we had – an adventure? On a whim, we had decided to finish up our February Florida respite from the Wisconsin winter by paying a one-day visit to the Mouse, in Disney’s Magic Kingdom.

Apparently shocked that the old folks would actually take such a first-of-its-kind, no-kids-along excursion, one of our grown-up kids exclaimed, “What do you think you are, newlyweds?”

No, but who says the magic can’t still sparkle, even after 41 years? So, off we went to find some pixie dust in Disney’s new Fantasyland, we kids in our 60’s. Belle’s tales charmed us, the Little Mermaid’s tail tickled us and the Beast fed us in his ballroom.

And then we saw that there was only a 35 minute wait at Space Mountain. Fools that we are (as we have been unceremoniously dubbed by the “Disney experts” we gave birth to) we believed the sign and opted out of a FastPass. Though the promised 35 minutes ended up approaching 70, it was enough to convince us oldsters we could, indeed, catch up to our youth by hitching a ride on this roller coaster into the galaxies.

However, my youth used to be skinnier. And more agile. And limber. And why couldn’t I get my right leg unstuck from my left and down in place before the bar came down and I got sucked out into the black hole I knew was beckoning? “Ahhh…” I wailed to my terrorized inner-self, “I’m gonna die before I get to tell anyone I was stupid enough to go on this thing again!”

With eyes firmly cemented shut and every muscle tensed, around and around, uphill and down, side to side we raced and jerked and hurtled through the darkest dark. Positive I would not survive to tell this tale, the vehicle finally came to a blessed halt. Time to exit. Except I could...not...get...out. Oh, mortification. Would those mere whippersnapper “cast members” have to yank granny out of her spaceship? I gave it all I had to push all I have out of that thing and stumbled gracelessly out, injured left hip and strained neck notwithstanding. At least I was standing!  (And as Garrison Keillor once quipped, “It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.”)

But I had conquered!  And I had lived! In Ecclesiastes 9:7 it says “Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. “

My hip still hurts—but I grabbed it and I did it!