And In The Background "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" Was Playing

Much of our lives these days is spent in a car traveling to and from various places. Sometimes it is the three of us but most often it is me and Hannah.

I kind of like my way of traveling. I have it down to a science, perhaps imperfect but one that fits my needs. Sunglasses, check. Seat just so, check. Steering wheel, check. In the summer, air conditioner blasting, check. In the winter, the heat barely on but blowing on my feet, check. Music turned to just the hearing level that it crowds out my ability to realize I may be talking to myself, check.

With Hannah, some of my travel routine has changed. Sometimes, the air conditioner doesn’t blow as cool or as fast as I would prefer. Sometimes, the heat makes the car resemble a moving desert. And the music, yes, the music, well, there is that. Should you get in my car we may be listening to a local radio station. I tend to listen to them in spite of the often inane announcing for the traffic reports, and, of course, for just the right tune. With Hannah aboard though the music from the radio is sometimes replaced by a CD of some of her favorite music. It would not be uncommon to get in my car in the middle of July and the song that would fill the interior of the automobile would be “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”. As she has grown older though, any music filters to the background so we can talk, or more directly, so she can talk.

One recent evening, Hannah and I were on our way home. As the daylight dwindled, I put my sunglasses aside for the ride, positioned myself just so in the driver’s seat, grasped the steering wheel with both hands, kicked on the A/C and left the radio playing quietly in the background. This trip would take about twenty minutes from one location to our house. True to form, Hannah talked most of the way.

As we neared our house though she grew quiet for a moment. It was quiet enough that I recognized the song playing on the radio as Cyndi Lauper’s 1984 hit “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”. Suddenly from the back seat, Hannah blurted out that she knew this song. I turned the music up a bit so we could hear it better.

Hannah then began explaining how we heard this song about a month earlier when we visited a local amusement park. I then remembered hearing the song that day through the heat and humidity while we were there as the loudspeaker system there blasted hit after hit from the 1980s.

Hannah brought to light more details about that song and that day to my attention. She remembered hearing the song as she and I were riding the park’s log flume, the ride that slowly pulls you up an incline until the top is reached and then releases you down a hill into a pool of water. The ride can be exhilarating, and, on a really hot day, refreshing, as each rider stands a pretty good chance of getting soaked.

I recalled that ride that day. Hannah had expressed interest in that specific ride but other rides seemed more interesting to her. Late in the day though, Hannah wanted to try the log flume. Jennifer declined to ride this one ride. I can’t blame her since no one really knows what lives in that water. To her credit, she does ride many of the rides with Hannah that toss and turn a body around. I knew this one ride was one I would enjoy although as we started the ride I began to have my doubts.

Darkness was gathering by the time we got on this ride. As it started, we were funneled into a tunnel that turned everything pitch black. When this happened, Hannah began to panic. She grew afraid of being in the dark. I held her hand. I tried to allay her fears. I told her the darkness was only temporary. The weird creaking noises she somehow heard above the loudspeaker would be gone soon. We kept moving although the pace at which we proceeded seemed to be an eternity. Frankly, I felt a bit closed in myself as I inhaled and exhaled the

stale summer air. Then, just ahead of us, we saw light. We emerged from the tunnel into the outside starting our real ascent up the hill. As we reached the very top we could see Jennifer waiting for us up ahead to our left. We could only look for a split second though as once we topped the peak we dropped down the hill into the water as the two of us let out screams of excitement mixed with a giant splash of water into our faces.

Later, I reflected on our conversation and her memory of that day at the amusement park. It’s easy to see how the parent-child relationship is a reflection of that log flume ride. A child wants to be adventurous. Parents want to foster curiosity. A child can grow scared. Parents provide encouragement. Then, it happens, and ready or not the parents and the child find themselves being pulled up the hill, then topping the hill, then dropping off that hill, screaming and landing and getting immersed in what it all brings together.

And, now, I know during that log flume ride, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” was the soundtrack. Somehow, as the dad of a little girl I think that may become the soundtrack to the rest of my life. 

Oh, daddy, dear.

Cyndi Lauper: Girls Just Want To Have Fun