I remember going to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, FL when I was very, very young. The details remain sketchy, it having been so long ago, though I do recall having a good time. It was beautiful; a fact I could register and appreciate even in my youth. My parents and I went during Christmastime, on the advice of my mother and father because it had been a part of their earlier lives, too. The displays then were breathtaking. I remember themed Christmas trees and poinsettias lining the walkways, and how we marveled at the brilliant lights once the sun had sank beneath the cypress trees and lake beyond. I remember traveling on that lake, in a small river cruise of a boat, and seeing a giant statue of Buddha who was an unintended influence even then. We were to hold our breaths while traveling under a canopy of treetops and, if we did so successfully, we would find happiness in our relationships. To this day, I wonder if my poor lung capacity relates at all to the fact that my social skills need regulating. I remember my parents wanting to dress me in a Southern Belle costume, along with the rest of the little girls at the park, but I - being a devoted “tom boy” at the time - refused to go anywhere near the pastel dresses with lace ruffles. As an adult, I’d now do anything to go back in time and let myself have carefree fun with outfit. I remember a lot of things about that day, so long ago, which only establishes the fact that the place had left an imprint on me.
I left Florida three years ago and vowed never to return, but there were some things I would have considered making a voyage for. Cypress Gardens was one of those things. Now, I’ll be able to visit it only as a hollow, haunting shell. After seventy-three years in existence, with a lot of hardships in its most recent, the park is now gone. I scratch it off on my list of places to revisit. I see Florida with one less redeeming factor. I feel as if Cypress Gardens’ demise is the last thread that connected me to a state that raised me. Now, I realize, I know I’m no longer welcome there.
Thank you, universe.
