Let's Go Crash A Kite

Last weekend, I took Saoirse for her first time to see kites flying. She was much more interested in seeing the other children than the kites, but the experience brought back one of my favorite childhood memories of flying a kite. Well really, it involves crashing a kite.

When I was about 4 years old, my dad took me to a field on a windy day to fly my new Ariel kite. The field abutted some houses but it’s a huge field with ample room to run and get your kite in the sky. After many false starts, we finally got the kite into the sky and it happily flew around while we watched it from the string. Unfortunately, the string snapped, which left 4-year-old me very distraught. My dad chased the kite around the field, in hopes it would fly down low enough for him to catch and not get stuck in a nearby tree.

Well, the kite did not get stuck in a tree… instead it flew right through one of the open windows on the second floor of a house that abutted the park! I still remember the sound of the surprised scream of the woman inside; I can only imagine the shock she got when Ariel came crashing through her window.

I had tears running down my face as the woman brought out my rescued kite; I was so relieved it was safe. I'm hoping someday Saoirse and I will have a memory like this for her to look back on. Although hopefully with less broken strings and open windows!

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