You must be THIS TALL to live this life

I don't know if it is a badge of honor or not but I am JUST old enough to remember ticket books at Disneyland. Although we lived in Southern California during the early years of my life we didn't make it over to Anaheim to "The Magic Kingdom" hardly at all. The first (and only) time I went with my family I was too short to do any of the really FUN rides, thus my much coveted "E" tickets were passed off to my brother and sister and I was relegated to an interminable number of passes through PETER PAN along with the joyful motion sickness that came from the whirling Tea cups. That ride, along with bricks of Pink Popcorn gave rise to the delightful euphemism "Technicolor Yawn".

Now for those of you who don't know what the HELL I am talking about I shall elaborate. It used to be that when you went to Dizzyland you paid for park admittance then bought tickets books for the attractions inside. The tickets had letters on them, A through E. "A" ticket rides were simple and cheesy, kids stuff. The higher the tickets got the more exciting the thrills to be had. All of these culminated with the famed "E Ticket", the holy grail of all tickets. Two for a book and worth ten times their weight in chocolate gold coins. Many was the kid who would find himself at the end of the day clutching a handful of ragged booklets full of "A" tickets and longing for the joys of the morning when their were "E Tickets" to be had and life was good.

So life affirming was this pasteboard wonder that it has given rise to exciting or amazing aspects of our lives as being described as being an "E Ticket Ride". If this is the case then we can only surmise that less amazing events in our lives are relegated to the lower level tickets. The first day of school might be a "D" ticket, along with your first dance, first job etc. Christmases might run the gamut up and down the book, as well as relationships with members of the opposite sex (based on a lot of mitigating factors). Your first kiss, losing your virginity, the birth of your children would all have to be "E Ticket Rides".

The sad thing though is that so many of us get to a stage in our lives where we look at our ticket books, dogeared and worn by being clutched in sweaty hands while we travel through our lives, and realize that we have used up all the lower tickets and only HAVE the "E Tickets" left. The trouble is that by the time we realize it we are all too set in our ways and stolid that we gaze at these remarkable "fun coupons" through rheumy eyes and wish we had used them when we could have really enjoyed them. Those people long for the lost "A" and "B" coupons, they want to ride the ponies again and will never work up the nerve to brave the Matterhorn.

I have been told that I have done a lot in my life. I have raced cars, sailed on racing sloops of San Francisco bay and taken flying lessons in aerobatic airplanes. I have lunched with famous people and called some my friends. I have worked on amazing projects with amazing people and scaled the spires of my field. I have an incredible son who it has been my pleasure to have an active hand in raising, of everything I have done he is the most satisfying. Some people would say that I have had more than my share of "E Ticket Rides".

Trouble is I want more...and just now all I have are "A" tickets.

Add to this that there are people I know, people who mean more to me than they can ever comprehend, who are at this very moment standing and staring at their "E Tickets" and refusing to use them. To them the pony rides, the ones that circle round and round and never get anywhere, seems safe and secure. The Matterhorn is tall, scary and beyond comprehension. They refuse to see that a life lived without the Matterhorn is a life un-lived but rather survived.

What can I do? I guess all I can do is get some more pink popcorn and go ride the teacups with someone I don't like.