I am unsure whether what I am about to write is currently politically correct but I was very saddened to read about the closing of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I have very vivid happy memories of going to the circus with my parents and then with my own children.

As a child I loved the clowns. But one of my most enduring memories of the circus is the small rectangular flashlight on a necklace that I asked my parents to buy me every year. While at the circus, as soon as the lights went down, you held the light by the necklace and spun it. All over Nassau Coliseum there were revolving flashes of light in the dark. Even after the show was over, I would sneakily use the flashlight at night for the month or two the batteries lasted, after lights were supposed to be out, to secretly read in my bed.

By the time I had children, the flashlight on a necklace was changed to a light stick.  Like me, my children loved the light sticks and I bought them a light stick every year. Also like me, they  loved the clowns. One of my most favorite memories with my children is when one of the clowns, came into the audience and choose my youngest daughter to go with him into the arena. The memory of her joy at that moment and the moment he gave her an animal balloon  is something I hope to always remember.

Do you have happy memories of Ringling Bros.?