The past week has been a thrilling adventure tenfold. I’ve been catapulted up the tallest indoor drop tower in the world, gone completely around in a 360-degree pendulum ride while harnessed to a spinning seat, quenched my thirst for new Marvel adventures, and walked 23 miles in four days while exploring one wickedly awesome city.

Not today, fear!

I took my 8-year-old nephew to Nickelodeon Universe in the American Dream mall, and his fearlessness inspires me. He wanted to ride every thrill ride that was open as many times as possible. I set aside my own fear, and together, we achieved his goal while simultaneously screaming and laughing intensely. And you know what? I survived, and we had the BEST DAY EVER! Our stats:

• Slime Streak: rode three times; steel family indoor roller coaster with a height of 70 feet and travels 37 mph over 1,263 feet of track

• Skyline Scream: rode twice; spinning rotating drop tower, currently the tallest indoor drop tower in the world. You can see the New York City skyline from the top!

• Shredder: rode four times; steel spinning indoor roller coaster that goes 36 mph over 2,247 feet of track.

• Kraang Prime Pandemonium: rode twice; a pendulum ride that takes riders in 360° loops going both directions, similar to a pendolo ride but with full loops

• Spongebob’s Jellyfish Jam: rode twice, quite possibly the fastest swings ride I’ve ever experienced

• Aang’s Air Gliders: rode twice; several inversions on this flight-style ride

• Jimmy Neutron’s Atom Smasher: I rode it once; nephew rode it twice. 

• Legends of the Hidden Temple Challenge: nephew enjoyed this ropes course 

Much to our dismay, TMNT Shellraiser, Sandy’s Bronco Buster, and Timmy’s Half-Pipe Havoc were all closed. We had lunch at Popeye’s in Coca Cola Eats (his first time having Popeye’s) and we explored Toys R’ Us…yes, you read that right! It opened in December! The retro “Toys R’ Us” jingle and music playing brought me back to my childhood and made wandering the store with my nephew even more special. 

Love and Thunder’s Thunder

No spoilers here, I assure you. The intricately linked elements and quirks of the MCU are what I love the most. I took a lot away from Thor: Love and Thunder, including the importance of living a well-lived life, be the person I am supposed to be, and to love wholeheartedly. I literally laughed out loud many times while shedding many tears. My MCU tradition is to see the movie with my brother and nephews, and this go-around, we added dinner at Five Guys to round out our evening. Valkyrie is still my favorite character, by the way. Love that king! And negative reviewers, be gone! I loved this movie!

Womanchild in Beantown

I traveled to Boston with family and drove almost the entire way there and back, including over the George Washington Bridge twice and successfully navigating Boston’s labyrinth of confusing roads. Rewind a few weeks, and spending three days in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with my fantastic niece inaugurated my summer edition of adding new places to my “visited” log. My list grew again with each of the 57,984 steps I took along our Boston adventure. My pin collection grew by 12 and my vat of memories grew exponentially.

• Experiences: Fenway Park tour, Yankees vs. Red Sox game at Fenway Park, Duck Boat Tour, college tours. My favorite out of all of these was the tour of and the game at Fenway Park. What an amazing place in the history of baseball! Fun fact: I genuinely get excited for “The Wave” to come around stadiums. I raised my arms and yelled four times as it came by four times and relished being one of those idiots each time. The Duck Boat tour was very unique and gave us an opportunity to see Boston from both the road and the water.

• Landmarks Visited and/or Seen: Fenway Park, Quincy Market, Prudential Center, Paul Revere’s House, Boston Harbor, Boston Tea Party Museum, site of Boston Massacre, Little Italy, Modern Bakery, Boston Fire Department Engine 33 Ladder 15, Boston Marathon Start/Finish Line, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, Harvard Square/The Coop, the Last Tenement House, Christian Science Plaza Reflecting Pool; saw from Duck Boat Tour: Bunker Hill Monument, various statues and parks, state capitol, Cheers. I didn’t have the opportunity to actually go into Cheers but next time, it’s on the top of my list. Another Fun Fact: When nothing is on TV, I watch Cheers on DVD, so I’m pretty adept at quoting the show. “Womanchild in Beantown” is, in fact, a reference to a Cheers episode when Diane Chambers makes a movie about Woody Boyd to convince his parents to let him stay in Boston.

• Places we ate: Eataly (inside Prudential Center), Forty Dalton, Lansdowne Pub, Bread O’Life in Quincy Market, Pressed, Grendel’s Den, Fenway Park, Shake Shack (I love their fries)

And Speaking of Beantown…

I am incredibly excited for my treasured friend Mandi Bean because her second novel titled Moody Blue was released this week! Click here to buy it from Amazon…mine arrived today and I’m tearing its cover open as soon as I post this! Congratulations, Mandi! You inspire me to my very core!

I’m Still Standing

These experiences and related lessons wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t keep my health at the forefront. I’m still dealing with a nuisance Lupus flare, but a slow and steady mindset while drinking plenty of water and resting when my body tells me to has made all the difference in allowing me to keep up with the flow and create countless memories. There’s still a lot of summer left and places under the sky to see, and my passion for life is stronger than both my pain and fatigue.

Fields of Fireflies

Two nights ago, I dreamt of seeing thousands of fireflies flying and lighting up against a darkish background. The only thing I remember from the dream is the magic of the fireflies. I interpret my dream as a message to light up others by shining my own light, and to be the light in the darkness. I hope that by sharing insight from my recent experiences has sparked a light in you to find meaning along your day’s encounters.

Thank you for joining me on my journey. I’m glad you’re here.

With love and gratitude,

Jill

“Riding Life’s Waves: The Dream Scream, Thunder, and Beantown Edition” was posted on jillocone.com on July 14, 2022. Views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the writer, who was not endorsed or compensated in any manner by any entity; views do not represent any of my employers. Copyright 2022, Jill Ocone. All rights reserved. Contact jillocone@gmail.com with reposting, licensing, and publishing inquiries.