The delivery team is never quite sure what they will encounter when picking up or delivering bikes.  We’ve delivered to some incredibly grateful people, we’ve had some people not be home at the scheduled time and we’ve experienced some people who didn’t want the bike that was prepared exactly as they had requested.  When we pick up bikes, usually the donor is quite happy to see us take their bikes off their hands.  So that was my expectation for this pick up, but I was in for a little surprise.

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I pulled up to a home in the West Valley.  Two bikes were sitting on the porch.  I rang the doorbell and a lady came out.  I grabbed one of the bikes, rolled it out to the truck and loaded it in the back.  As I’m walking back to retrieve the second bike, I see the lady is crying.  My first thought was did I do something wrong?  Did I not treat the bike with enough respect as I was loading it?  Did the bike belong to someone who was no longer in her life or, perhaps, no longer of this world? Not knowing what to say, I asked her “Do you still want me to take the bikes?”  She nodded meekly, fighting back her tears.  So I asked again “Are you sure?”  She replied softly “Yes, it’s just that I have such good memories of riding my bike”—and she turned and went back into her house.

 

Somewhat stunned by the situation but not knowing what else to do, I quietly loaded her beach cruiser into my truck and drove off.  For the rest of the day, I was lost in thoughts of the experiences she had had on her bike, why had she chosen this moment in time to give it up and why was she giving it up—all mysteries to which I would never know the answers...