"Hold on, kid!"
"I'm telling you: Hold On!"
and the stranger, now a companion, that you only met a few seconds ago, winks at you,
and you tense up a bit, as the escalating rollercoaster car crawls up the tracks until it hits the peak―
you're in the second row from the front, and the giant snake-like machine is inching forward like a summer caterpillar,
you're hanging, suspended a hundred feet above the ground, looking down and across at the snaking, wiry tracks that lie before you,
and the car you're in inches forward and more forward, closer and closer to the ground until suddenly, it's as if whatever was holding the cars suspended snaps,
and the whole rollercoaster blasts forward,
people yelling with mouths so wide open that they're catching wind making cheeks expand and flap like sheets of paper in the breeze,
arms extended and flapping away like sails in the wind,
tremendous joy
bouncing back and forth through the coaster cars, from person to person on the swiping and snaking behemoth.
That stranger is now your best friend.
Laughing, and giggling, and, for some, pure fear, winds in and out of the coaster cars.
It's a memory that sticks, like your sweaty t-shirt to the back of your seat as you arrive back to the terminal.
The heat, the smell of the breeze, the excitement on your face: it's all there for you to try to remember.
You see, right now, I am in that seat: hanging one hundred feet above the ground. In less than a week now, I will be studying art in a beautiful place, with beautiful people, making beautiful memories. (Not to mention, one of my really good friends is going to visit me for part of the time!)
This is definitely the start of a great ride in my life, but, it's important to realize that this ride is just one of many.
This ride―I've already been on it.
The peaks, the valleys, the joy, and the fear: these are elements of life...
for everyone.
But, you know, this is a great blessing and I'm super excited!
Let's all do incredible things this summer, my friends!
"I'm telling you: Hold On!"
and the stranger, now a companion, that you only met a few seconds ago, winks at you,
and you tense up a bit, as the escalating rollercoaster car crawls up the tracks until it hits the peak―
you're in the second row from the front, and the giant snake-like machine is inching forward like a summer caterpillar,
you're hanging, suspended a hundred feet above the ground, looking down and across at the snaking, wiry tracks that lie before you,
and the car you're in inches forward and more forward, closer and closer to the ground until suddenly, it's as if whatever was holding the cars suspended snaps,
and the whole rollercoaster blasts forward,
people yelling with mouths so wide open that they're catching wind making cheeks expand and flap like sheets of paper in the breeze,
arms extended and flapping away like sails in the wind,
tremendous joy
bouncing back and forth through the coaster cars, from person to person on the swiping and snaking behemoth.
That stranger is now your best friend.
Laughing, and giggling, and, for some, pure fear, winds in and out of the coaster cars.
It's a memory that sticks, like your sweaty t-shirt to the back of your seat as you arrive back to the terminal.
The heat, the smell of the breeze, the excitement on your face: it's all there for you to try to remember.
You see, right now, I am in that seat: hanging one hundred feet above the ground. In less than a week now, I will be studying art in a beautiful place, with beautiful people, making beautiful memories. (Not to mention, one of my really good friends is going to visit me for part of the time!)
This is definitely the start of a great ride in my life, but, it's important to realize that this ride is just one of many.
This ride―I've already been on it.
The peaks, the valleys, the joy, and the fear: these are elements of life...
for everyone.
But, you know, this is a great blessing and I'm super excited!
Let's all do incredible things this summer, my friends!
The Lavender Fields of Aix-en-Provence. Absolutely beautiful!