That was the last time I was of a reasonable size to ride one and, at Six Flags New England, there were only two in the entire park I could even fit on to ride at that point.
I BARELY fit on them then.
Anything with a shoulder harness has been off limits to me since the late 90s.
The mechanism couldn't clasp over the breadth of my chest.
And as for any other rides, if there was a lap bar, forget it. There was no way that thing was getting over the gut.
So, this year, when I went back to Six Flags with my son, now 14, I had to test the waters.
I now fit on EVERY coaster in that park.
And I've been riding them like crazy since the park opened for this season.
What's even better, my son has gotten over his fear of coasters and rides EVERYTHING with dad now, too.
We used to go to Six Flags and make the entire circuit in two or three hours.
Really, that was all I could stand to walk and I still took frequent breaks to sit and rest.
We had a mapped out system: we would cover the entire park in a specific pattern.
There were only a handful of rides Liam could or would ride at that point anyway.
The goal was to not have to double back and walk the expanse of the park more than once.
I couldn't have possibly carried that body that distance more than once.
And SFNE is a SMALL theme park - tiny in comparison to say, Great Adventure, Busch Gardens, or Disney.
I can also remember, around 2001, chaperoning a trip to Six Flags with our church youth group.
Back then I still had problems fitting on a number of the rides, but what was even worse was the food court.
There was no way I was ever going to fit in those affixed seats and there flat out weren't any of the handicapped seats with pullout chairs like the ones I relied on for years at fast food joints.
So I had to sit sideways while I sat and ate junk food that only exacerbated the problem I was having.
And boy did I get a lot of stares.
A lot of giggles.
A lot of very rude teenagers gawking and making comments.
For years I've walked past that same food court not even DARING to try sitting down. The memory of that day in 2001 is STILL fresh in my mind.
Well, yesterday was a day for both my son and me to conquer a few long-standing fears.
Liam was very nervous about riding a looping coaster.
I've been working on him since last September telling him, "When we come back here in April I'm going to fit on all these rides. When that happens, the tables are going to turn: I'm going to ride rides and you're going to wait. That is, unless you decide to ride with me."
Well, I started inviting him on a couple coasters from opening day at Six Flags and he kept saying, "No thanks."
Until yesterday.
I convinced him to ride his first looping steel coaster: Batman the Dark Knight.
I told him, "You are going to love this ride. I know you are. But, if you don't, I will NEVER bring it up again. You can ride your other rides, I'll ride these and we'll just have to learn to wait for each-other."
It was enough to convince him.
The line was short so we got right on the ride.
Sure enough, he loved it.
We rode it twice.
And we rode two other steel coasters, too.
And a wooden coaster (which he'd been on before - the bone of contention was going upside down, not the nature of a coaster ride).
The thing that I find so important about this is that finally, being the father of a teenager, I can actually DO things with Liam. I'm not bound to taking him places and watching him do things.
Anyway, that was Liam's victory. Let's talk about mine.
I took Liam to get some lunch about halfway through our day.
(we were there six hours total yesterday, by the way, and had walked the expanse of the park about 3 times)
We went to the same food court where a group of very rude teenage boys sat mocking the fat guy behind his back some 13 years ago.
I got his food, flashed his season pass, headed over to one of those tiny tables...
And sat down. Comfortably. There was space between the belly and the table.
The memory of that horrible experience way back when still eats at me but it's memories like that which I believe will keep me from ever doing anything that will put things like roller-coasters and cafeteria tables out of reach for me again.
One more observation...
I've also now seen several overweight people denied a turn on those coasters because they just couldn't make the harness or the seatbelt or the lap bar fit.
I've seen the humiliation on their faces.
I've watched them look longingly as the ride departs and their friends disappear up the conveyor for that first long drop on an exciting coaster ride.
I know precisely what's going through their heads and I know how helpless they feel.
I have had a LOT of help on my journey and, if I could, I would have walked up to each and every one of those people, handed them $600 and a business card from Julie and sent them off to change their lives.
But who knows if they're ready?
I went to Julie when I was ready.
I knew about The Key Hypnosis two years before I ever called.
By the time I called I'd stopped going to Six Flags.
It was too damned frustrating.
But now, it's such a rush going there and experiencing all those great rides with my son.
When those people want it badly enough, that's when they'll make their move.
341 days, zero cheats, countless victories.
