You'll Never Guess Who Got a Bike

What a great Mother’s Day gift from The Child. I’m thinking he had more than a little help. (Thanks, Jeffrey!)












I was putting up groceries when Jeffrey asked if I'd come help him get something down from the attic in the garage. He told The Child he could come, too (he loves getting up in that attic). I turned on the lights in the garage and saw:

He and The Child tricked me good!


I fell in love with the bike when I spied it at the store. This was a few months back when The Child and I were checking out the local bike selection. He was daydreaming about getting a new bike.


We weren’t looking for me a bike but when I spied the Cranbrook I loved it.



On Mother's Day I opened a gift from The Child to find a homemade gift certificate for a bike of my choice. Naturally, when we went to get it, they didn't have it. I was sad and the teeniest bit envious of whoever was riding all over Winona on my bike.

That didn't stop me from thinking about the bike. I'd be like Mary Poppins. Jessica Fletcher! I'd give the bike a name, like Flavia's bike in The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: Gladys.

Gladys in repose

The first bike I remember was a Huffy. It was yellow (just like the wallpaper in my room, just like the bedspread on my bed), had a banana seat, and a white plastic basket with daisies on it.

I rode that bike after school every day. In the summer I rode it to the library; I was an enthusiastic participant in its summer reading program. I rode bikes with friends and I rode my bike by myself.

Riding around the block yesterday took me right back to those sun-dappled summer days.
When I got on my new bike, it was, you know – just like riding a bike. You don’t forget how.