Something happened in the maze, between entering it and leaving it, they lost their cares…As they neared the exit, they started to strategize about the best ride to go on next.” (Doctorow, 362)

The ride is coming to an end. For most of us, it was worth every moment. But that doesn’t matter. We rode the ride. Bewildered, we started in the abstract, heading straight up the pike. At the pinnacle, we free-fell, hands up, at warp speed through the conceptual. Enacted, yet enervated, we finally arrived at the concrete. We laughed, and sometimes cried, and we lived to tell about it. We even got a souvenir to take home. And it was fun, and scary, and exciting, and confusing, and intimidating, and frustrating, and weird, and familiar, and ours. It’s our story.

Every good thing comes to some kind of end, and then the really good things come to a beginning again.” (Doctorow, 388)