CHILDHOOD MEMORIES | JANUARY PROMPT
A Boy And His First Bike
I just wanted to ride with my friends
We didn’t have money for luxuries like a bicycle when I was growing up. But it’s what I really wanted… no, it’s what I needed. What boy growing up in the 60s, who lived just blocks away from old country roads and adventure, didn’t require a bike?
My single mom struggled to make ends meet on welfare. If we needed something other than food or shelter we were SOL — shit outta luck.
Sometimes my mom would skip meals to save a few bucks in order to buy us something we really wanted or needed.
One year, after she started working and I had continued to beg for a bicycle, there was a new bike for me for my birthday. Well, it wasn’t new, it was used but it had two wheels, a seat, and handlebars. It wasn’t a cool mustang like my friends had with the hi-rise chopper handlebars and a banana seat.
I always thought they looked so cool on those bikes but my friends said the seat wasn’t great for boys. They’d always squish their babymakers on the seats. This bike had none of those cool, albeit uncomfortable, features. This was a big, old-fashioned bike. Functional but without any of the bells or whistles.
