My son took his first trip without us in middle school. He wouldn’t be home for an entire week. Communication between the students and their homes wasn’t allowed. This adventure was for my son and his peers; an opportunity to experience independence. He was excited, on the other hand, I was not.
As the bus took my emotions overwhelmed me. It was the first time my son would be on his own and for seven long days! It was also the first time we would have no communication. I thought to myself, “Was he okay, having fun, missing his home?” Not being in control was hard.
My husband decided to help get my mind off of my son and took me on a romantic bike ride.
We rode our bikes to the house where we first lived and to a park we went to all the time. Instead of appreciating what he was doing, I was angry that these places reminded me of our son. Especially since it reminded me that soon he would be off to college. I was crazy thinking at this point.
I sped up my bike as fast as I could, my husband kept telling me to slow down. As a result, I hit a curb and went flat down on my face.
I felt my entire face move sideways. My internal insanity had come to an end. I was trying to stop life from changing, if I could spin faster then I could stop time.
My jaw was broken which resulted in being wired shut for almost a year. After that was another surgery to put my face back in place.
I learned life still went on, I taught my preschool class wired shut. Life threw me down to see how lucky I was with everything I had right in front of me.
All things considered, I am forever thankful for my husband and the romantic bike ride he took me on. With a broken jaw and surgery, he reminded me life moves on, no matter how much I wanted it to slow down. I needed to stop and enjoy every moment of life today.
It took a long time for me to get back on the bike again. Once I did, I was another step stronger to knowing I could do anything!
We need to teach our kids to enjoy each moment, we cannot hold time still, but we also don’t need to let it pass us by.
5 Responses
I remember when my son left for camp. It was his first time being away from home and I was an emotional wreck. Just like you, we had no communication for 7 days. Your story reminded me how fast time flies by and we do need to appreciate every moment. Sorry for your accident I’m glad your much better now. ❤ Thanks for sharing ❤❤
Sorry for your injury! I wish you a quick recovery!
As a person told me once, we must ride changes, not try to stop them: they will happen anyway.
I love this! Especially since trying to ride faster than the change doesn’t seem to work. Riding with them helps to enjoy the change a little bit more.
I can totally relate to how we let our internal turmoil impact our physical life!
sorry to hear about your bike accident, until now I still have fear with bikes especially downhill cycling because of the injury I got. I admire you for being strong and getting back on track to it.