I wanted to share a story from this past weekend that reminded me it’s never too late to make an effort.
This past year, I’ve really got into everything bike related – especially mountain biking and backpacking. It’s possibly the onset of a mid-life crisis (kidding!), but I love the getaway and being out in nature. The thought of loading up my bike and just riding is intriguing. This isn’t new – since my teenage years I’ve dreamed of selling my possessions, jumping on a train destined for a nice recreational location and finding a kayak, bike, and off-road vehicle and just living it up for awhile. You know, the normal daydream.
At any rate, the weekend before last, I went on an early morning ride and made it back in time to have approximately 15 minutes before the boys woke up, so I called my dad to check in. Somehow we got on the topic of these getaways and how he always wanted to take me and my older brother on these types of adventures, but never had the chance. Time just got away.
Fast forward to this weekend – I’m back on the phone with him having the same discussion, only this time he’s asking me about how to fix up a bike. He had recently found an old bike for $5 at a garage sale and was trying to fix it up, so he could surprise me with a ride together. He has never been into cycling, but knew it was important to me and just wanted to spend time together.
Needless to say, this meant the world to me – I was touched that after all of these years he just wanted to spend time with me, even if it required doing something that hadn’t interested him in the past and that would require some extra effort on his part. It’s difficult to put into words and I won’t get into the details, but he realized that us spending time together was important and decided to do something about it. This was a nice reminder that it’s never too late – it’s never too late to reconnect with an old buddy, right a wrong or simply tell those important people in your life how much you love them.
I truly appreciate the unintentional reminder from my dad. When I’m his age, I hope I’m able to do these things with my boys and let them know that no matter how long it’s been, there is nothing more special than time together. Until then, I better get to riding – I’ve received several texts in the days since, with his distance and times and an update on how the bike is coming together.
