a big day

Today was a big day. It was another fine spring-like day here in the Colorado front range, and the girls asked to ride their bikes. However, Zoe rides a kind of half bike, you know, it has only one wheel, and it attaches to an adult bike. So for her to ride, means I must also ride, and besides that, all of the tires are flat from these thorns they have here in the high desert. So I let them take out Ashley's trike, and Zoe climbed on the back while Ashley sat in front. We passed our neighbor, and she said how it looked like we needed a new bike. I really wanted to give Zoe a new bike, I just didn't have the money.

So I brought the girls inside and opened my laptop. I found a thrift store, right nearby, and called them up. "Do you have any kids bikes?" I asked. "How much are they?" I said. "Fifteen dollars? I'll be right over." And just like that, Zoe got her first bike. Boy did she scream when she saw me take it out of the car! "I'm loving this bike!" she told me after one trip down the block and back. I was overflowing with pride.

I remember the day I got my first bike like it was yesterday, don't you? And I'll never forget today. Twenty years from now, I'll still be able to picture it, the day in February, it was 65 degrees, blue skies and very windy. Her polka dot jacket, with the same hot pink in it as the bike. The training wheels that Andrew put on while she waited impatiently. Her smile so big and wide. Awesome.