My, How You've Grown

The cake was delicious, the Bride stunning. And then there was the equally stunning couple in the front row, radiating joy: the parents of the Groom. Every Groom should be so fortunate. And the proud father? my cousin!

I remember growing up with that man, that father who was then just a young thing. When we were teenagers he had introduced me, in grand fashion, to Disneyland. I had never seen Disneyland and could not believe I was going. This cousin, a California native who lived near that magical Place, knew all about it and felt the importance of being my guide. It was a day I would always remember.

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Disneyland in 1968 was a thing of rare beauty. It has always been clean, but that day it was scrupulously so. There were the most uniquely dressed cleanup crew who surreptitiously came along behind everyone and removed whatever they happened to drop. And they all did it with the most amazing smiles. It seemed that all of the workers were perpetually cheerful. It was the Happiest Place on Earth.

And so that day my cousin showed me the ropes; got me around; introduced me to Thunder Mountain. But I was shocked to see him suddenly stepping out of the passenger canoe in It's A Small World. Right out of it, onto the scenery at the side. "Come on!" he said. "We can walk around behind the scenes and check it out."

I wasn't so sure I wanted to 'check it out', but he had obviously done it before so I climbed out to join him. Strangely, nothing bad happened. We walked along beside the canoe, which still held our amazed fellow passengers. "Quick!" said one. "Get back in here before you become arrested!"

This scared me. I figured I'd better follow her wise advice before our luck ran out. 

But we had underestimated just how long that would take. As I climbed back in and settled down, to our horror we heard a voice through a loud speaker saying, "Young man, get out of there. Make your way to the exit door to your left and DO NOT COME BACK. You are now BANNED from this ride."

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And that young kid is now the grown man who yesterday stood witness to a marriage. Smiling to beat the band; happy as any proud father in this wide world. And through all of that, through the wedding, through the photos, through the music and the dancing, that smile never faded. It was the sweetest thing.

And I smiled too. Smiled as I remembered him as that bold and daring teen who had once been banned from a Disneyland ride. I may have been the only person in that room who knew.

We've come such a long way, Baby.


See you along the way!
the SconeLady


photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/randar/9916042373/">Tom Simpson</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/expressmonorail/3254218411/">Express Monorail</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>