Memoir Prompt #3

#3: What is your happiest childhood memory?

I did not love going to Disney World when I was a kid. I’m told I’ve been there twice, but I only remember the second time, I think. (It’s possible I’ve conflated the two trips in my memory.)

I remember the heat and the walking and the waiting. (Maybe I was born old - these are complaints I hear from parents all the time.) I remember desperately wanting to meet Mickey and spend an exorbitant amount of my mother’s patience and money to buy the iconic Mickey ears hat.

I remember being herded into the teacups ride to wait out a typical Florida torrential downpour where they had to shut down all the rides under threat of lightning. I remember boredom and disappointment. I remember the rain finally letting up and the lights coming back on and that we took advantage of the free ride to make up for the wait and feeling ill. (I still can’t handle amusement park rides as an adult. Motion sickness has plagued me my whole life.)

This sounds like a strange way to get to my happiest memory, describing the misery of actually visiting the “happiest place on earth”, but I appreciate you bearing with the scene setting - trust me, it gets happier now.

I remember that the rest of the day was cloudy and cooler, and, having had a rest, my feet weren’t so sore. Of course, post downpour, the whole park was soaked, or at best, dampened, but since no one else wanted to ride around inside a pool of rainwater, there was no line for the Go Karts. The teenagers running the show didn’t care enough to discourage us from going ahead with it, and we all had bathing suits on under our clothes so we figured: we’re soaking wet anyway, why not go for it?

I forget why we wound up in this configuration, but my brother was paired with my mother and I was with my father in a kart. I remember as he drove, realizing the absolute absurdity of racing around a track sitting in, to my small frame, chest high water and that strangers looked at us from across the way like we were insane. I was having the time of my little life and to this day, I pity anyone there that day who didn’t think to join in the fun.

Part of me believes that this was the day I realized that life is for living fully, and that means always being on the lookout for opportunities that others have overlooked and leaning into them wholeheartedly.