Past Fears
On the news this morning I heard that 10 people had to be rescued from a 60 foot Ferris wheel after an observant carnival worker noticed a split in one of the parts and immediately stopped the ride to prevent further damage. I had to chuckle to myself, thinking back to my childhood days. My best friend, Gail, loved Ferris wheels, so one September evening at the State Fair, she convinced me to ride with her. I approached the double wheel ride with great apprehension, but was assured by Gail that it would be great. As the wheel began turning I was so terrified that I didn’t even make it around one of the rotations of the smaller wheel before I was screaming and pleading to the ride operator to let me off. Apparently I was convincing enough because he stopped it just for me to get off. Standing on solid ground, shaking from the event, I watched Gail ride it all alone in awe, wishing that I was that brave. This fear of heights followed me into my adulthood, so when my daughters were small ...