If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes . . . I would have never believed what I saw!
My son Danny and I visited Fia and Palmer Richmond in their Santa Barbara home recently. I had called Fia several weeks prior to our visit and she told me that she looked forward to having us in her home so that Danny could try out Palmer's new bike. Bike? What did she mean by "bike?" I had met Palmer on several other occasions and couldn't imagine what kind of bike she was talking about. Fia also knows Danny pretty well and I couldn't believe that she suggested that Danny could actually ride a bike. I put the idea in the back of my head and didn't think about it again until the day of our visit.
It was a scenic drive north along the California coast into the mountains. The winding road that leads to the Richmond home is beautiful and peaceful. Little did I know the joy and happiness that was about to fill my heart and make this day irrevocably significant. We were barely in the door before Fia started making the adjustments to Palmer's bike to best fit Danny. At this point, I was more than skeptical about Danny actually riding the bike. I figured that at best we would strap him in this contraption and push him around the street for a while. To add to my skepticism, Danny's shoes were a little too big and his feet kept on sliding out of the bindings. In my mind I thought it was a "sign" for sure. A sign to give up AGAIN, a sign that it wasn't meant to be AGAIN. Finally, with a pair of borrowed shoes we made our way out the door and onto the street.
Fia stood at the top of her driveway and told me to stand about 20 feet away directly in Danny's path. She called out, "Are you ready?" With hesitation and no anticipation, I said, "Yes." With a tiny push Danny TOOK OFF PEDALING! I couldn't believe my eyes! He was actually pedaling! Left, right, left, right in the most beautiful, fluid motion I had ever seen in my life! We were screaming with joy! My father and friends the Santoro's who had joined us on this trip were clapping and hollering! Danny was slightly shifting his weight from side to side as he alternated his chubby little legs pedaling down the street! He was really pedaling! Tears of joy soon flowed freely from all of us who were present. I have mentally replayed that moment over and over again - 46 months worth of sadness were suddenly lifted from my heart. Danny made several trips up and down the street for the next 30 minutes or so. He pedaled easily down the grade and almost as easily up the grade.
We quickly scrambled for a video camera, digital camera, any camera to capture this moment. Murphy 's Law prevailed; batteries were dead, tapes were full and we almost didn't record this historical day in Danny's life. Finally, Fia captured 4 images on a borrowed digital camera and my friend Gina recorded about 20 seconds on videotape before the battery died. EVERYONE that I have into come into contact with since that day has been privy to this story and the accompanying pictures. I can't help myself - I've never bragged about Danny before.
Our days are riddled with comments about Danny's limitations so I've become a quite a pessimist regarding his potential. Lesson learned? Don't let preconceived notions about your child dominate what YOU believe your child is capable of. I consider myself extremely fortunate that the Richmond family afforded us this opportunity that has opened up a whole new world of mobility for Danny. We look forward to being fitted for our own bike and exploring the many beautiful bike paths that Illinois has to offer. I can't wait for the cold weather to lift and the bike riding to begin!