quickienewyork:

Apropos of nothing, we went to Coney Island last week and I rode the cyclone for the first time in twenty years.

The last time I rode it was with my dad just after he was diagnosed with MS. He wanted to do a bunch of things he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep doing forever. So my brother and Dad and I rode the damn thing as it shook and rumbled beneath us, and I was terrified but I did it anyway.

Last week I rode it again, this time, less afraid, but ever aware that he’s no longer here. 

So I rode it for him and for me. And it was just as rattly and rumbly as I remembered and my god was it beautiful.