Welcome to another entry of Grateful Heart Monday, where I start my week off on a positive note with a piece of gratitude, which for today is for a recent day trip I took to Cedar Point with my partner and a few friends.
For those who don’t know, Cedar Point is an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, that’s considered to be one of the supreme places for riding roller coasters in the world, given there are 17 of them there. Many years ago, prior to when all my health issues began, I was an incredible roller coaster enthusiast who always tried to visit a slew of amusement parks every season. That all changed in the spring of 2010 though when my physical health began to decline. When I attempted in July of 2010 to spend a day at Six Flags Antonio with my best friend Cedric and struggled to enjoy any of the coasters I went on, I decided to temporarily shelve my amusement park days until I got better. Eight years later and many declined opportunities to go with others to various theme parks, I finally opted to join a friend and his family in their final visit to Cedar Point for the year, solely because their kids had asked if my partner and I would do the haunted houses with them that go on during the September and October time frame there.
Leading up to our late October Saturday visit, I must admit that I secretly had hoped something would happen to cancel the trip like severe weather or something else. I wasn’t too excited to go mostly because the levels of pain I’ve been enduring have made walking for any length of time not much fun.
Yet, I experienced my first piece of gratitude very quickly upon arrival at the park, when my friends let me know they had a handicap access placard so that I didn’t have to walk a big distance from the parking lot to the gate.
Shortly thereafter, upon entering the park, a second piece of gratitude came when guest services granted me a special access pass that allowed all of us to board the rides at the handicap entrances, where I wouldn’t have to wait in any of the 2+ hour long queues, as having to stand for long periods is extremely challenging for me.
Having that special access pass also proved to be a blessing given it allowed me to make it on a number of roller coasters I never experienced before, all before the high winds and rains came in later in the day that ended up shutting everything down.
And when they did, when everyone began to head indoors where it was dry and warm, my partner stood in line for a good while at the Starbucks (yes, the park actually has a Starbucks!), to get me my favorite drink, an extra hot venti decaf soy latte. Each sip of which definitely brought me a token of gratitude, especially, as the line grew longer and longer and was almost an hour at one point to order something there!
But, if there was one thing that made me the most grateful overall that day, it was the fact that I hadn’t cancelled my trip to Cedar Point and I never gave up while I was there, even when my pain was hurting incredibly. The truth is, I gave it my all the entire time, so much so, that I ended up accumulating over 5 miles of walking, which for me in my current state has been something I never thought possible.
So, for a guy like me, who has been spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically broken more than not these days, I feel I actually accomplished quite a triumph on my first trip to an amusement park in over 8 years. While it did take a physical toll on me in the end, especially because of the roughness of the rides, I can at least be thankful for the good that came out of it and the notion that I once again defied the odds and my ego. And I’m truly grateful for my friends Clark and Shannon, as well as their kids, for helping to make it all possible, something I never thought would be, given all that I continue to go through with my health…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
