This Is the Time

Billy Joel wrote a great verse in one of his songs:

“This is the time to remember but it will not last forever. These are the days we’ll hold onto because we won’t although we’ll want to. This is the time, but times are going to change.”

That song popped into my head as I drove past Darien Lakes 6 Flags Theme Park.

I recall times in high school when my buddy Jeff and I took our dates up there. We spent a fortune all for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek.

Great times!

But the true Darien Lake days was when the kids were young.

A whole bunch of us headed up to the park - camping in their trailers.

The men volunteered to hang back at the campsite and cook while the women hustled the kids up to the park.

Sounds like we got the short end of the stick, but hell no!

We drank a lot of beer as we prepared the chicken or ribs.

Then we would all venture up to the park to take the kids on the big rides…

…sling shot…

…Superman roller coaster.

It was a blast.

And as I thought of Billy’s lyrics my heart sunk a little.

I miss hanging with those kids!

Of course, I have great relationships with all my boys, but back then they called for me a hundred times a day.

“Dad! Dad! Dad?”

Here’s the thing:

I knew that those were the times I wanted to hold…

…”but we won’t although we’ll want to.”

Those days passed!

And it takes a slow drive past an amusement park to bring those days back to the forefront.

I smiled as I passed by, thinking of my mother-in-law yelling at me for taking Matt on the zip-line ride.

“You can go up there and die for all we care,” she said. “Why do you have to take a kid with you?”

We laughed about that for a lot of years, because, of course, we survived the ride, and made a memory.

Ah well, maybe there will be one more set of memories made at the theme park…

…if we ever get to go there with grandkids!