Daredevil Daughter October 6th, 2025. 444 words

From an early age, my daughter Ruth loved the speed and drops of roller coasters. Her first encounter with rides was at the local 4th of July celebration. It was a small loop roller coaster shaped like an alligator, she loved the bump in the middle of the ride. She rode it several times until it was time to leave.
Next there was the spinning cups at Disney and the tilt a whirl. John got nausea on the spinning rides, so I accompanied her on such spinning rides. I didn’t have enough vision to cause dizziness.
As Ruth grew, so did her taste for thrill rides. In sixth grade, She and two friends did a jump on cords. The photo taken by the park shows two girls screaming while my daughter was grinning from ear to ear.
The second trip to Disney found Space mountain, a inside coaster in the dark.
Finally there was a day at Cedar Point in Sanduskey Ohio. She and John tested their nerves on every coaster. I enjoyed the Magnum, a steel rollercoaster travels along the shores of Lake Erie after it’s first drop. The Millennium Force first hill is over 300 feet tall. There are several twists and three more hills. the initial drop can reach up to 93 mph. Finally, we waited in long lines to ride the Top Thrill Dragster it is a ride that bolts the rider straight upward 420 feet before it twists, coming to the starting point. It travels 120 mph.
For her 16th birthday, Ruth wanted to tandem jump from a plane. By this time, John and I were wiser and chose to watch from the ground. In this jump, the person is attached to the experienced jumper in the front, like a large bay carrier. At the correct altitude, the plane door is open and you move to the open door. Ruth was second to jump.
“I was talking to another jumper then he was gone and I was next.”
She recalled the force on falling through, the loud sound of the wind and having her heart in her throat. Counting to ten, she and her partner pulled the ripcord together. The parachute opened to slow the decent and jerked the jumpers. The chute floated slowly back to the ground.
Since that jump, Ruth has jumped into a current of upward air mimicking a free fall from a plane. I didn’t have to watch and worry. She did this with her husband. I wonder what she will try next?
***. Poem
Rocky heights
Zip line speed
steep ascents
downhill plunges
jumping ship
parachute strapped.
What’s next?
carolaspot@aol.com
copyrighted 10/6/25