Old Friends - Part Two

Well, Dave is a really a special old friend. We go back to eighth grade in school. We did not really connect til we both got cycles. Something about the wanderlust of a biker that bonds the friendship in people. Dave got a bike someone brought to the US after they bought it. Speedometer was in kilometers instead of MPH.

We started riding together. When you ride beside someone, after a time you build trust together and take risks you don't take with a stranger. You tend to carry on to help pass the boredom of just riding.  Dave liked to stand on his seat. I liked to do wheelies. We kind of find our own thing to stand apart. One girl that rode with us would crawl from one cycle to another while we were moving. Craziness seems to multiply when bikers get together.

Dave and Danny bought a new BMW motorcycle after we got out of school. I kept my Honda. We rode everywhere. None of us had a car yet. And so the adventure began. 

Dave's brother, two years younger than us was really laid back. You never expected any craziness from Danny. One day we were waiting for the light to turn red and I was revving my engine and jumping ahead a little bit to show off. Danny got exited, which he hardly ever did. When the light turned green, Danny revved the bike and dumped the clutch. The big BMW stood straight up and dumped Dave on the back of the bike to the ground, right in front of traffic.

The BMW was standing straight up and it was just luck Danny did not flip backwards. The muffler tips and back fender touched the road and it left scrapes on them. I'm sure Danny got his adrenaline fix that day. Dave's daughter asked me a couple weeks ago if I was there when this happened. I said yes. She said, "I knew you were there when Dave and his brother would do anything stupid". She knew carelessness happened when we got together!

When Dave and I rode to the shore, for some reason nothing terrific happened. Not like when Bob and I rode together. Bob and I just seemed to bring out the crazy in both of us. The adventures with Bob will be a different story to tell you about later.

It is good to get together with long lasting friends to say, "Do you remember when...?"

I told one friend after we were both married and somewhat settled down that I should have been more careful when I was young and should not have done some of the crazy stuff that I did. He says, "Hoss, if you were different, you would not have the stories to talk about. People would not remember you like they do now."

That is true, but I would not hurt so much either. My pains are my memories of my wild times. I am just glad I was watched over so good, that I can tell the stories. I appreciate being alive now in my later years so I can relate to people with my good fortune of still being here; to remind people to cherish their friendships and thank the Lord for taking care of us in our stupid actions of yesterday and today.

Never give up, but learn when to run so you can fight another day. I think age helps to instill in you a little wisdom. I'm just sorry so many of my friends, when we were young, never made it past youth to have a long life. Thank you Lord for letting me have a long life! I appreciate it.