The Story of These Bikes
By Miggy
Once upon a time, in a faraway land called Nebraska there lived a little girl who lived in a house. It was actually her grandparents’ house and they had a lot of crap. Good crap, mostly. There were many closets to explore–old prom dresses, a forgotten guitar, original Barbies–and many rooms with wonderfully interesting trinkets and treasures. In the garage, on hooks screwed into the ceiling, hung a pair of old Schwinn bikes. One of them green and one of them blue. Having a deep love for all things vintage (aka crap), the little girl longed to ride those bikes. Yet from the very first time that little girl stepped foot in that house, alas even many years before, those bikes hung from the ceiling. They would remain there for many years to come. Waiting and waiting.
Eventually, the little girl moved away. And she grew and grew and grew until she grew right up. One day, when the little girl was no longer little–in her mid twenties even–she heard tale that her grandma and grandpa were moving. Her tidy Uncle was coming to rid the home of all its toys, trinkets and treasures and if there was anything the now grown-up girl wanted, she had better come quickly.
With haste, she drove across mountains and plains, from Utah to Nebraska where finally those bikes would be released from their hooks on the ceiling and into her vintage loving arms. Barely fitting in the back of her Mazda, she returned to the land of Utah where they were shod with new wheels but were found to be in otherwise good working condition. Yea, the generator that powered the headlight–even the lightbulb inside the headlight–were still in fine working order. The grown-up girl proudly rode those bikes around town, showing them off as her dowry to potential suitors.
Alas the girl continued to grow. She grew until she married and moved to the mystical land of New York City. A land she knew her beloved bikes would not be welcome. A land of small apartments and wicked bike theives. Thus once again the bikes were relegated to a garage ceiling–the attic in her in-law’s home. And once again the bikes waited and waited.
The grown-up girl moved even more times and it looked as though she might never be reunited with her beloved bikes. Until finally, a family friend who was moving from the land of Utah to the wilds of Texas offered to bring them hither.
He did. He brought them hither.
And finally, the grown-up girl and her vintage-bikes-that-once-belonged-to-her-grandparents lived happily, ever after.
The End
sweet bikes!
those are sweet! i'm fold of old crap, too. once upon a time, my old man and i used to tool around together on a vintage tandem cruiser. we've lugged it around with us on many moves, but we haven't ridden it in since i can't remember how long.
double sweet & rad hallelujah.
that's one powerful dowry!
love the story, LOVE the bikes.. i have my grandma's old schwinn, too, and love it to peices.
Love love love! 🙂
http://vimeo.com/wearestitch/superhumans
This comment doesn't have to do with your post, sorry. I just had to send this your way. I thought of little Lamp as I watched it. I LOVE your blog and I find it to be so inspirational and touching. You are such an amazing mom and I look forward to hearing about your wonderful adventures with your caring husband and beautiful girls. Take care.
Mallory! LOVE IT.
Thank you so much for sending this along…oh man…will have to post. Thank you.
Love these bikes, and let's be honest, texas is the best place for riding one speed bikes. 🙂
Love that you recognized the "great" left in these bikes! And so glad they're yours.
Ride on (with a little Gering history still intact!)… and enjoy these vintage bikes.
A smart match to be sure!
Love,
Mom
oh no! I'm dangerously jealous of those delicious bikes!! AHHH! Love them!! glad you are reunited with those pretty little beauties!
Oh! As I mentioned from our brief meeting in Costco, I was born in North Platte, but lived in Scottsbluff for many years before moving to Sterling, Colorado and then to Lincoln (and now in San Antonio). I saw the Gering permit on the bike and immediately thought so much of growing up there. We had really good family friends in Gering and we spent a lot of time riding bikes there.
My grandparents, in Holdrege, had pogo sticks in their garage. We spent so much time on those. I have no idea where they ended up–my grandparents passed away many years ago. Such memories! It's amazing how fun it is to grow up outside, especially when it's not so crazy hot like it is here!
Laura