Friday morning is usually our date morning. It is Dw’s only full day off. We often start with a coffee and sometimes walk Main Street, sometimes do a little antique store browsing and sometimes we go for a long walk.

This past Friday Dw said, “What about a bike ride around town?” So he loaded Autumn’s cruiser and a bike he brought home from his parents garage into the back of the truck and off we went for a date.

We got our coffees and did a little walking. Then we went to move the truck up near Third Avenue so we could ride the streets and enjoy the architecture of the old homes.

But just as we approached Third Avenue that sweet hubby of mine said, “Wait! I forgot something.” And turned around. I was like, “What are you doing?”

He pulled up in front of a bike store in town. He said that he wanted to take care of something on his bucket list.

So what would that be?

Let me back up about 37 years for a minute…truth be known though, I have not had my own new bike since I was a little girl. {And no, there was no reason I had to have a new bike – it was just something Dw said he had on his “bucket list” – to buy me a cruiser!} I know I rode a bike in middle school but don’t remember it at all. And I definitely have no idea where I got it from.

Then when I was in high school, my first ever boyfriend asked me to go on a bike ride for our very first date. My favorite thing ever was bike riding so this was right up my alley. I asked my brother if I could borrow his brand new boys 10 speed. He said I could, on one condition. If anything, and he meant anything, were to happen to that bike, I had to agree to buy him a new one.

No problem.

After all, what girl whose favorite thing to do in the whole wide world was to ride a bike, would scratch or dent a bike? I was kind of annoyed, I mean, Come on dude! I’m like an expert on bike riding.

haha

My boyfriend and I rode all the way from my house to Beaver Island State Park…it was about 24 miles round trip. Well as you can guess, on the way home that boy and I were laughing and riding side by side and having so much fun talking and all of a sudden as we went to look at each other our front wheels ran too close and stinkin’ locked. Thirty-seven years later I can still picture the ground coming at me. I smacked to the ground and hit the gravel, little stones and dirt dug into my skin and I had blood running down my legs….

The two bikes somehow entangled on top of me and to top it off {literally} that boy landed on top of the two bikes, which were on top of me…a true tangled mess!

And my brother’s bike?

Bent and scraped and all banged up {just like me!}

You can imagine how excited I was to tell my brother when I got home what his expert bike-riding sister had done.

So yeah, I gave him the money for the bike and used it for probably the next 20 years or so. After that old bike died, I just borrowed one of my kids bikes.

Until Friday….

when he bought me my own cruiser….

Notice the flowers?

You guys know how much I love them?

Seems like this Sunflower bike was made just for me…

and one thing got marked off Dw’s bucket list….