Anyone who has ever heard me speak more than once has probably heard me speak of my love of roller coasters and amusement parks. I have always been fascinated with things that move on tracks.
My grandfather has had some health struggles recently, and I have spent much time thinking about some of the things he has deposited in my life. One of the greatest memories I have of him is him taking me to Knott’s Berry Farm. Knott’s is a southern California institution, full of wild roller coasters and daredevil fun. My grandfather would say, “We are going to Knott’s,” and we would jump in the car. We would drive up to Knott’s Berry Farm, I would see the large sign that said “welcome to Knott’s”, and we would keep in driving to the parking lot across the street. We would get out of the car, and my grandfather would lead us to a lake, and he would sit down on a bench by the lake, and we would look at Knott’s Berry Farm, from across the street! I remember watching the roller coasters while sitting next to my grandpa. I remember watching the parachutes move up and down the tower, they are no longer there, and I would sit with wonder, dreaming of the day I could would be able to ride them.
I was probably 16 years old before I actually went inside of Knott’s Berry Farm and rode Montezuma’s Revenge and the parachutes. I don’t even remember the first time I actually went inside, but I can remember the days I sat on the bench across the street, watching, because I with my grandma, and my grandpa. It didn’t matter that we were actually going inside the park, I was with them, and that was enough. We were at Knott’s.
All I have to say to my daughter Rebekah is “let’s go to Target”, and she’ll stop what she is doing, put on her shoes and go and get in the car. When we go to Target, it’s just her and I. We don’t buy anything. She doesn’t even ask for anything. We walk straight to the concession stand and buy one bag of popcorn and a slushy. It’s not expensive, it’s not fancy, but it’s our time. No one else gets to go to Target, just Bekah and daddy.
In this era of spending our lives in the pursuit of more, bigger houses, better paying jobs, more influence, we lose sight of the times at Target and across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm in our lives. We can’t ever forget that our children aren’t going to remember what we spent, or how prestigious what we gave them or where we took them was, but what they are going to remember is that we were there with them, we were together. There is nothing more important. Our kids spell love T I M E. In the temptation to spend our lives giving our kids everything we never had, and make sure they have everything we need, let’s never forget that sometimes the greatest gift we can give them might not cost us any money at all. Make the time today to make your Knott’s Berry Farm or your Target for you and your child; it’s an investment of time you will never forget, and neither will they.
