For example, lately I've been thinking about all those summers spent at Cedar Point. I still remember the first time in 2007 when David Wang created the trip to go and I got invited. It was my first time ever at Cedar Point and it was the beginning of many to come. Tim Chai came that year and we somehow convinced him to get on Top Thrill Dragster. He screamed, we laughed, it was great. This was also the grand opening year of the Maverick. And it wasn't just people from Cleveland. We had people from Ann Arbor, Indianapolis, Columbus, and even Toronto. The picture below is the group that went.
Not shown (because we left before it was taken) Joe Samulak, Luke Bixler, Seth Johnson, Stephen Johnson, and myself (I also borrowed this photo from Kat Bi).
Over half the people in this photo I hardly see anymore, but I won't forget that day. Each summer we went, the group was never the exact same group of people, but no matter who went, I have stories to tell and memories for a lifetime. I remember the only year we ran into rain, Stephen Johnson and I waited three hours to ride the front car of the Millennium Force. It was still raining a little and at 93 mph, those rain drops stung! Many other park goers bailed because of the rain, but we hung around, the rain tapered off, and we had short wait times everywhere. I remember the year we rode the Millennium Force at night and my hands were covered in bug guts and blood. I high-fived Rachel Harknett after the ride and she screamed when I she realized what I had done. There was the year Florine from France joined us and had a blast. Another year we rode the Thunder Canyon ride where 8 people are put in a spinning raft and you never knew who was going to get soaked...except Kayla Holloway. She went four times in a row and somehow remained nearly dry.
One of the most burning memories from those trips was the very last time I went as a group. The weather was perfect, the rides didn't have issues (for the most part), the waits weren't bad and at the end of the day, something incredible happened. We all hopped in line for a last ride on the Millennium Force (this coaster is addicting) and about halfway through, it broke down. So half of us (me and David Wang included) left the line and ran over to the Mantis (now Rogarou). We got in line and made it on the last ride of the night. Then as soon as we got off, we ran all the way back to the Millennium to try and beat the line closure. I remember as we dashed through crowds of people, tired and moving at a snail's pace from the long day, almost running into quite a few, I saw an older couple about to cut off my only open path so I jumped up on a wooden ledge and as I parkoured off it right in front of them, a though seared through my head. "This may be the last time you do this." As David and I dashed on through the light show, this thought was on replay. The incredible thing is that we beat the line closure by mere seconds AND made it onto the very last ride on the Millennium force for the night. What a way to cap off a fantastic day.
Going back to that thought. It actually became a reality. That year was the last year I went with that group or any group for that matter and the last group trip happened only once more. That thought forced me to recall all the joys and memories I had of those trips that night and to really cherish them not knowing at that time that they would be the last ones I made.
Another series of memories I've been reflecting upon lately are all those days in the summer Jeremiah, Mark, and I spent at Mark's cabin in Vermillion. The first time I went, it was Mark's 15th birthday. He called me up and asked if I wanted to go jetskiing. As a 16 year old and an adrenaline junkie, there was no way I was refusing this offer. During that weekend, I got to drive it. With Mark holding on for dear life behind me, I went full throttle and roared straight into a four foot wave. We went airborne and I felt the jetski wobble as if it was going to flip. Thankfully we didn't and ended upright, but with a monster splash. Mark still had a death grip on my life jacket. That was the beginning of so many amazing trips here.
As we got older, we'd go out for weeks at a time, just the three of us, with occasional guest appearances by Timothy Miller, Aaron Johnson, Nathan Johnson, and Cody Grimm (there was also the time Caitlin and Melissa crashed the party but we'll get to that later). There are so many memories of this place, but I'm going to snapshot a handful below.
I remember the time we went tubing and tried to throw each other off, Mark got whipped so hard he tumbled 5 or 6 times off the top of the water before he submerged. There was the time Jeremiah tried to cook a sheepshead and it was the nastiest thing ever. Or the time we spent so long talking, we forgot to get food and everything in the town closed at 11pm. So we drove around getting nowhere until we finally stopped at a convenience store and bought microwavable mac & cheese. We also tried to go to giant eagle, but it was closed and we ended up running over the freshly sealed blacktop on accident, leaving tire marks all over. We had times where we charged into the lake at midnight during a thunderstorm to rescue the jetski, woke up on a cold/rainy Monday morning to find 10 foot waves, boats scattered on the shore, and we had to rescue ours. There were the days we explored the town eats making Micky D's runs, Huggy Bear's ice cream, Geppettos for a rack of ribs and pizza. I remember when we blew up an entire box and a half of wolfpack fireworks, nearly burning ourselves by stuffing two copperheads in one tube and having a Roman candle battle after. We watched movies on the projector, held poker matches, grilled many meats off the deck, and had many fires on the beach at sunset with our butts in the sand. There was also the time we spent a week out there and halfway through, Caitlin and Melissa unexpectedly showed up. While we fished, they chased us down in rough waters on the jetski. Or we had the pleasure of dragging them around in the tube, seeing how far we could go before they had enough. Or the moment where I tried to be all macho and take them out on the rough waves in the jetski, only to hit one too hard and end up with many gallons of water smashing me in the face.
The one scene that will never leave my mind is I was riding the jetski as the sun was setting. While I was roaring about, I eased off the throttle, then killed the motor. I just drifted as I took in the scene before me. To my left was a golden sky with a bluish hue and the sun dipping below the waves. And to my right was a navy blue sky with the moon already high and surrounded by a handful of stars. I was caught in the middle of two worlds and for the first time in a long time, felt I was in complete serenity. Last year was also the last time the three of us went and we didn't get a chance to go this year because Jer is now married and has tons of bills to pay. This also could be the last year the cabin is in the Greenwood's possession, so this may be another chapter ending...which is indeed sad. But the memories and the times I had with the people I was with here are priceless.
Going back to my intro, these were some long running events that impacted my life and are what I would think of when FGL sings the first two verses. To put it into complete perspective, I'll close with this:
May we all find our adrenaline high,
Find the courage to spread our wings and fly,
Enjoy the freedom with friends on a summer night,
The laughs, the joys, the thrills that feel so right.
Make memories that last forever,
Cause' you don't know when now will become never.
May we all find our beach on the coast,
Where the setting sun warms your heart the most.
Where boys can be boys and ride life's waves,
Catching trophy fish is what we crave,
Sleeping in late and not bothering to shave,
And talk about the adventures we had until we rest in the grave.
May we all.
