Thursday, July 4, 2013

Independence Day

Went for a bicycle ride this morning. Nice weather. Almost 14 miles, average pace about 12 mph. Not bad for a 56 year old with a heart condition. But that's not what this little essay is about.

I realized a few minutes after I left the house that I forgot to put up the flag. I was hoping that Jayna would remember it and sure enough, when I arrived back home, there it was, prominently displayed on the front of the house. But that's also not what this little essay is about.

I saw something amazing today. Or at least it was amazing to me. 

I saw a family today. From afar, they looked pretty typical, mom, dad, 2 kids. I encountered them on my ride this morning on the bike trails at Chisholm Creek Park.  The two children were small.  One on a very small bicycle with training wheels, the other in one of those big jogging type strollers with mom at the helm. Dad was a few steps away facing back to the rest of the family. 

As I approached I was thinking what a neat idea it was to take the kids out on this bike trail on a 4th of July morning. And they were a fair ways away from the trail head. They had been at it for awhile. I slowed down a bit as I approached and said "Good Morning, How You Doin'!" Dad turned toward me and responded enthusiastically and said something like "Great, How About You?"

But as I rode past I noticed something really unusual.

And incredible. At least to me.

Dad had 2artificial legs. 

Think about that for a second.

There they were on a family outing on the bike trails, all 4 of them looking like they were having a fantastic time. I was impressed.

I had to wonder about what had happened to Dad. Iraq? Afghanistan? I have no idea, but suspect something like that. 

But here they were out on the trail, having lots of fun and not apparently letting the misfortunes of life get them down. In fact, they seemed to be aggressively enjoying the day.

I admire them. Pretty amazing sight on the 4th of July.

No comments:

Post a Comment