Shaping Up - II

Yesterday I started a post about things that have shaped me into the person I am today...the blog continues.....



Husband and Father

o Dad

§ My dad was a quiet influence on my life. He didn’t say much. Only occasionally raised his voice. Often took me along on projects. There’s a picture somewhere of me around 2 – 3 years old in my jump swing holding up a board for dad. He taught me that you can fix almost anything if you are not afraid to try. Including broken hearts.

o Marcia

§ Pay attention. Marcia put this concept into my husband/father vocabulary in the first year of our marriage. It has served me well and my family, too. I still have a tendency to drift off. Writing this reminds me again. Marcia has made me a far better man than I ever would have been otherwise.



Bicyclist

o Grandpa Alvah

§ There’s a old photo of my grandpa Alvah and his brother astride single speed, wood rimmed bikes getting ready to ride from Merrill down to Jackson, MI (just short of 100 miles). When I would fall off my bike, he would shout encouragement from his rocking chair on the porch of the log house, “Come over here and I’ll pick you up!”

o A girl’s Schwinn and a Rudge 3-Speed

§ I learned to ride on a powder blue 20” Schwinn girls bike. I didn’t know that I was supposed to be embarrassed by the low top tube. Given male anatomy and my lack of skill at the time, I may have that to thank for my current virility!
§ My first “racer” was a light weight Rudge 3 speed – 26” wheeled bike given to us by some friends and repaired by dad and I. My first long ride was to school at the end of my freshman year.

o Bicycle Tours

§ The bikes lay aside once I got my coveted drivers license until I was a youth pastor and there was a district bike trip announced. The youth group went together and got me a Schwinn Varsity. It was shiny and new and weighed a ton, but it got me through that first trip and I was hooked.
§ I’ve been riding ever since with a long line of better and better bikes along the way, but all of them have a special place in my memories.