Standing in Line with Ed

Lily and Emmy earn free tickets to Six Flags Great America through their reading program during the school year. Six Flags is only about a 45 minute drive from us, and we try to go once a year. My in-laws live even closer to Six Flags so they buy a season pass. A couple of weeks ago, we all went together–and then split up once we walked into the gates. Ed and my nephew convinced me to go on the new coaster Goliath, supposedly the tallest and steepest wooden roller coaster in the world, while Lily and Emmy went with my niece and sister-in-law for some tamer rides.

After a 2 hour wait, it was finally our turn. It was a little nerve-wracking that Goliath didn’t have shoulder restraints, but a lap belt and lap bar instead. That first drop just about did me in! And then we went upside down twice and through a corkscrew, not necessarily in that order…my brain was a little scrambled. I may have screamed a little.

Roller Coaster
We rode Goliath!

Later that day, as we were walking past X-Flight (last summer’s new coaster), the wait sign said 45 minutes. Ed hadn’t been on it yet, so we decided to wait while the rest of the group went to a different ride. It soon became obvious that the wait was going to be twice as long as the sign said. Ed and I passed the time with some old-married-couple conversation.

“If I knew the wait was longer than 45 minutes, we wouldn’t have gotten in line.”

“Oh, look, someone lost their hat.”

And of course, the long companionable silences that comes from being married for almost 12 years.

About half way through our wait in the middle of a twisty-turny section of the line, Ed saw a couple that he knew years ago. After their hellos, the wife exclaimed, “We were just talking about you, Ed, and how fun it was to stand in line with you! You were so entertaining!” Turning to me she asked, “Is he still like that?”

“No. He’s actually very boring,” I said. And then they had to move in their direction and we moved in ours.

After our “flight,” (Ed said, “You know it’s a good ride when Ginny laughs the whole time!”) Ed and I joined the rest of the group. The girls wanted to go on the Demon, another roller coaster, so we waited in yet another line. As we were waiting, Ed started to joke around with our nephew, making everyone laugh. All I did was give him a look. “I know what you’re going to say,” he said. And I didn’t even need to say it. I just laughed instead.

Ed
At Yellowstone in the old days, when Ed made me laugh on a regular basis!

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