Red
During this time of year I remember “Red” and how I loved him. I had his rims powder coated and he hangs on my office walls, where I can spin them when I have the urge. In honor of all the time we spent together over the years and all the love I received from him, I re-share this blog with you in hopes that this holiday there will be many more young and old individuals who receive this gift of love and freedom.
When I was sixteen my carefully constructed house of cards came crashing down. My mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, her third husband left us, and I became depressed. My childhood was a nightmare, full of rejections, loss, uncertainty, and fear. I had one person in my life to count on: me. After all these years, I still can’t come up with language to describe what it was like growing up in my environment. All I can say is I do not know how or why I survived other than I had “Red.”
I feel in love with Red when I was fifteen. I loved everything about him: chrome that gleamed, color so shiny it glistened, and his ten speeds! I especially loved I could get on him and ride wherever I wanted to go! The problem was I couldn’t convince my mom to buy him for me. No matter what I did to convince her, the price was too much for a single parent mother trying to survive alone again.
According to Bill O’Hanlan in his book: Thriving Through Crisis,
“Whether your crisis is an accident of fate or one of your own making, it can present a call to a new life. Your current life and strategies can take you only so far before they no longer work-if you don’t expand or try something new, you may be asking for a crisis. Both the productive strategies and the unhealthy patterns that got you to the place you are now are often insufficient to carry you forward.”
What I saw in Red was my opportunity to alter my life emotionally and physically. I was trapped in this uncontrollable environment and I desperately wanted some choice and freedom. I hatched a plan to earn enough money to buy Red. I worked for the next three months at various jobs to obtain the money and did! I had to earn $240 approximately, which was a lot of money in the 1970’s.
I can honestly say the moment I had Red I was the happiest girl in the world. I was so proud of myself and what I had accomplished. I had made a decision and then worked to obtain my goal. I was in heaven. I spent many days cleaning, polishing, riding, and caring for Red. As you know, in life, there are hills and valleys-always.
I was riding Red through our small town, beaming, enjoying the day, when I decided to stop and go into a jewelry store. I was standing inside the store when I happened to look up at Red outside to see a boy jump on him and ride away! I ran outside, started running after him and Red. I was yelling at the imbecile who was riding MY BIKE! “Stop! Stop! Thief!” To no avail, after a chase scene rivaling Hollywood, I was losing ground and my breath! I stopped, gasping, bent over, crying, and shaking. How could someone do this? I walked back to the store, collected my things, and went directly to the police station to report my Red stolen. As I was giving the officer the details, he was trying gently to relay I would not see Red anymore, when I told him I had the serial number for my Red memorized. The police officer looked at me as if to say, “You have got to be kidding me?” I loved Red so much I had memorized his unique number and rattled it off to officer.
I was forever changed after this event. I had lost something, not just my bike but a part of me. I was both angry at myself and mad that someone had taken something from me. I never lost hope I would see Red again. I looked for him everywhere.
I can only say this, God hears our prayers, especially those of children. Ultimately we are all His children. I walked into the high school parking lot for school one day and glanced over at the bike rack looking for Red. He was there! He had been defaced, altered, and damaged, but I knew it was him! I checked the serial number and it was him! I ran into the principal’s office and reported the whole thing to the secretary. She called the police station and after school they waited and watched to see who went to the bike. The culprit was taken into custody along with Red. Eventually I was notified of the situation and told I had broken up a “bike ring” in town. They went on to recover several stolen bikes that were being altered and resold. The judge ordered the culprit to restore Red to his original condition before giving it to me. It was the second happiest day of my life when I was reunited with Red!
I’ve had over forty years of joyful riding with Red. He has countless miles, has lost some of his original parts due to wear and tear, and his paint is not shiny anymore. Our last big adventure together was riding 400 miles along the Erie Canal in New York this summer. I had the oldest bike in the group of 650 people. Red almost didn’t make the last 50 miles, but a gifted bike surgeon spent 45 minutes repairing him enough to make the last trek. Along the way he was his usual faithful self, listening to me while I shared all my feelings, frustrations, disappointments, fears, triumphs, and hopes just as he has done for the last forty years. I told him how much I loved him for carrying me through some of the toughest parts of my life and thanked him for his tireless efforts. I also told him I would love him forever and he would be my first love always.
Some people have dogs, I have a bike. Whatever you have or had in your life that brought you extreme joy, growth, and love, know you are never alone in your journey.
“There’s a crack in everything,
That’s how the light gets in.”