Fantasy
Disneyland. We started early with you, Bobo. Our first visit was just beyond your first birthday. December 2015. We stayed at the Paradise Pier which is a Disney Property. It was quite the event. You were too small to ride too much, but it began the process of brining you down there and building our relationship with the park.
It’s funny to associate it like that, but it’s accurate, I think. It’s a relationship. And with you, every time we went there was a little more you could do and a little more you enjoyed. There were rides that you loved early, and then over time became less and less interesting as you could go on the more and more intense ones. Your mom graduated you up as soon as you were able on many of the “scary” rides. You don’t really have that piece in you that has that fear of rides that put some of us off. The feeling of the drop or the corkscrew or the flying through the air…. none of that worried you and as such, it all was just “fun”…. probably “exhilarating”. Your mom finally had a buddy. Someone who would sit next to her and enjoy the ride for what it was, and not worry about the possibility of doom.
Each time we’d arrive in the park, I’d look to you for the recognition of times before, or excitement about what was coming. There wasn’t a whole lot, honestly. You seemed excited for some of the rides, depending on your mood. And you certainly liked to run around the park, or ride in the stroller and just people watch. It was seldom we’d experience a meltdown from you, which I thought was pretty exceptional. We’d walk by many families having issues as children became tired or had too much stimulation for the day. You rarely would go there. You seemed happy to be pushed around in either the stroller or the fancy wagon we bought you as you got older and larger.
As you aged, and lines and waiting became harder, we got something called a “Disability Access Pass” that helped get us thorough the long waits. At first I resisted this, because I didn’t think it was necessary. Your mom believed it was, and once we’d used it a few times, we realized it did make things easier in managing the park and your ability to be patient. Disneyland was one of the places that I truly became aware of your limits. It could be melancholy as I absorbed all the other Neuro-typical children around us and their behavior patterns versus yours. As you aged, it became more obvious. Some of the beauty of these learning experiences for me turned out to be the change over time to not being concerned about it. There would always be some sort of feelings based on the fact that you didn’t get to experience the the rides and the input the same as a typical child. But really, I’d realized that fun is fun, and you were having it. So what difference does it make really right? If we’re enjoying ourselves together, then it’s a successful time. And that’s what it represented.
We’d go to Disneyland countless times with you during your 6+ years with us. And I can tell you, as long as I’m able, you will go countless times more with me. In my heart and in my soul. We will walk those acres together, and ride those rides together. Because going there for us will always be leaving today, and entering the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy.