Old Folks on Bikes
To celebrate my birthday this week (I'm over 50), I stayed with my parents for a couple of days (they're over 70). Husband was away on a long hunting trip, kids are grown and busy, grandkids napping, classes starting next week - so I enjoyed my freedom!
We haven't gotten old yet.
I can tell this is true, because we had one of those NEW moments. I went bike-riding with my Dad!
I'm sure I've followed him on a bike before. I recall we each had, including Mom, a bicycle leaning against the wall in the shed when we were children. We had to have used them, I just don't remember.
My folks live in a retirement neighborhood. (I'm almost old enough to have a place there right alongside them!) My father, always the gentleman, led me around the neighborhood at an easy pace. We talked little, teased some, greeted a few neighbors, and relished the quiet.
I have a camera in my mind, and I periodically capture moments that I don't want to ever forget. The image I see is my Dad speeding away on his bike after excusing himself - he needed to work up his heart rate, he said.
I see his thinning hair blowing in the wind, his nose wrinkled up in concentration, and his plaid shirt pasted against his chest.
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We haven't gotten old yet.
I can tell this is true, because we had one of those NEW moments. I went bike-riding with my Dad!
I'm sure I've followed him on a bike before. I recall we each had, including Mom, a bicycle leaning against the wall in the shed when we were children. We had to have used them, I just don't remember.
My folks live in a retirement neighborhood. (I'm almost old enough to have a place there right alongside them!) My father, always the gentleman, led me around the neighborhood at an easy pace. We talked little, teased some, greeted a few neighbors, and relished the quiet.
I have a camera in my mind, and I periodically capture moments that I don't want to ever forget. The image I see is my Dad speeding away on his bike after excusing himself - he needed to work up his heart rate, he said.
I see his thinning hair blowing in the wind, his nose wrinkled up in concentration, and his plaid shirt pasted against his chest.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Comments
My father died when I was nine. My mom is 75, but she hasn't ridden a bike since the day before her sister's funeral, over a decade ago, when she fell off and broke her arm...and just attended the funeral, many hours away, wearing a sling...and saw the doctor the following week!!
K cannot ride a bike, I presume because os his vision (or lack thereof) and the last time I rode a bike, it gave my knee issues....so we don't ride...except the boring, boring exercise bike.