RIP Story : June 12th, 2024

Sadie’s mom owned three motorbikes, one moped, one scooter and all the tools to go with them. Her mother just gifted Sadie an electric bike for her 16th birthday. The electric bike was a lot of fun, but Sadie had been scanning the online markets for something special. Bee-Bee appeared on day and Sadie knew that was her bike.

Sadie showed her mom the listing. It was being sold in their neighborhood but an older gentleman looking to reduce the amount of stuff his children would eventually have to deal with. Sadie and her mom took their matching electric bikes on a ride by the man’s house. He was digging through his truck when Sadie’s mom said hello.

“Hello girls how is your ride going today?” he asked.

They talked about motor bikes and Sadie got into the weeds about the electronics built into her new bike. “Fascinating what they can to with bikes today, they look like a lot of fun,” the gentleman said. “You wouldn’t happen to be here for the bike I posted online?” he asked

Sadie went red faced. She didn’t know why she felt guilty, but the flush in her face could not be hidden. Thankfully, her mother was there to take the reins. “As a matter of fact, Sadie saw your listing and she wanted to take a look.

The old man went into his garage and rolled out the faded yellow machine. It was beautiful to Sadie. It was going to be the first steps into her restoration education. She would learn about rebuilding a motor and bodywork. The color, how could she change the color. maybe she could keep the finish as is, who knew. She heard very little of what her mom and the old man were talking about. Her imagination had run away with her thoughts.

“Does your piggy bank have that much in it, Sadie?” her mom asked. Sadie was snapped out of her runaway ideas. She hadn’t thought about the cost. She had money saved from birthdays and working around the house, but not in the amount the man said it was posted for. “Oh, umm, no. it doesn’t,” Sadie answered.

She felt the dream leaving her body. She understood the reality. Her dreams had gotten ahead of what she could pay for. She wasn’t going to ask her mom on the spot. She was surprised her mom hadn’t asked how she was going to pay for it.

“What was your plan?” the old man asked, “for the bike I mean,” he added.

I was going to ask mom to help me rebuild the engine. I wanted to fix the handlebars and redo the seat. I wanted to see the paint in person, had think about keeping the finish as is or giving it a refresh. I was going to name her Bee-Bee.

“I’ll tell you what. You take this home with you and you follow your plan. Bee-Bee has been looking for a new home for a long time. Bee-Bee may have been yours all along and I was her caretaker.”

“That’s very kind of you but you don’t have to do that,” Sadie’s mom said.

“I believe I do. My kids could have taken then anytime in the last 25 years. If I hung on to everything because I wanted more in my bank account, people like your daughter would be left dreaming about their dreams rather than living them. I will accept as payment, one ride on Bee-Bee when you are done.”

“Really!” Sadie exclaimed. She thanked the old man while her ideas for the bike zoomed through her head. Her mother called home and asked Sadie’s father to come get Sadie’s electric bike.

“But mom, the listing said the engine doesn’t work.”

“Well, Dad can get your electric bike home and I guess the first thing we will fix up in the engine. The wheel roll, you can walk it home,” her mom said.

The realization washed over Sadie. The first steps of this project would literally be footsteps.

“I’d say enjoy the ride, but that would feel rude,” the old man said. “How about, enjoy the journey and all the steps you experience along the way.”

Sadie thanked the old man again. Maybe less enthusiastically than she had minutes before. “Start making your way home, I’ll wait her for your Dad. See you at home.”

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.

EPILOGUE: This was fun. I have very vague memories of the neighborhood I lived in before leaving Canada. We lived on a street that was a big circle. I was thinking about that as I was writing this. I very much broke my 15-minute rule. I thought this was going to be a story about Mom and Daughter working on a bike together, then it turned into a story about dreams and plans. I enjoyed this one, I hope you do too.