Fair Grounds

Ever since I can remember my grandmother would take me and my sister to the fair.

Those rainbow rides rolled into Henry County once a year.  

My grandfather would volunteer to work it, 

And my grandmother would walk us around the grounds.

I loved the fair.

One year I got in trouble at school,

And I couldn’t go to the fair as punishment. 

I cried all afternoon.

My grandmother felt guilty, but my parents were firm.

Life was unfair for her that day, I thought it was for me too.

The fair was our time.

Haley and I would ride everything: the ferris wheel, spinning dragons, gravity.

If we were tall enough, it was fair game. 

The year I was big enough to ride the Fireball

I noticed a few things

I love thrill rides, 

And that the fair was getting smaller. 

Or I was getting bigger.

As middle school continued, I wanted to be with my friends. 

Go to the fair with them 

No- I wanted to go to Six Flags with them;  

That was more my speed.

Fairs were for little kids and grandmothers. 

I wanted friends. 

When I got to high school, my grandmother asked me if I wanted to go to the fair.

I did not; 

Those rides made me nauseous now.

I drove to her house instead.

I loved the fair once, 

But my grandmother, I loved her always.