My Dad and The Flying Scooters

Of all the memories I have of my wonderful Dad, there is one that I can close my eyes and relive so easily. It's of me and him riding the ride in this photo at Coney Island.

It was the mid to late 1950's and my Mom and I would take the bus early in the day to swim at Sunlight Pool. Mom would often have made fried chicken and potato salad and everything would be left in the fridge for Dad to pack into the picnic basket after coming home from work. He added some bottles of Coke (for me) and beer (for them!) in our Scotch cooler and then he would pack everything into the car and drive up to meet Mom and I.

She and I would have gotten dressed and we would walk to the picnic area, hungry after swimming, ready to eat and ride the rides.

It was quite a walk from the pool area across the big park to the picnic area and after swimming all day, I was tired by the time we got close to the picnic table but I would see my Dad by a table unpacking food and drinks and I'd run full speed into his arms.

It was always just the 3 of us and it never occurred to me to miss having siblings. How could I when I had parents who put so much into making me happy?

We ate (I can still taste my Mom's fried chicken) and then walked back to the park to ride the rides. The Flying Scooters were always the first ride I begged to ride and always with Dad guiding the wing so that it dipped so low that I would shriek because I was sure we would scrape the ground! And then up we would fly so high that I tried to reach out and touch a tree as we flew by. Being the consumate tease that he was, he would arch that glider and make the cables squeal and snap and I would hold onto him for dear life sure that our scooter would fall right into the abyss of concrete below.

I was a little girl in love with her life but very much in love with her Daddy in those sweet, magical days of childhood