One of my Facebook friends shared a video recently. In the video she talked extensively about self-change, shame, abuse, and trauma. She spoke of confronting these things head-on and personally changing the world by facing her own feelings about her past and breaking a long-preserved silence and encouraging others to do the same. Her post […]
Schwinn Restoration, Part 4 Read More »
in the last post I talked about how I’m probably not going to repaint the bike. There are some worn out parts on the bike that necessitate replacement. Obviously, the tires were completely unusable. I ordered the tires from an online bicycle store in New Hampshire. It turns out there are still companies like Kenda
My last post described my reasons for the restore of this old bike. The family connection, passing on an heirloom to the next generation and the sheer joy of seeing something brought back to life were just some of my reasons for resurrecting this old Schwinn. I have an ulterior motive. Gaining expertise in a
I recently acquired a Schwinn bicycle. It is my new project. As happens with these types of projects, the restoration itself sometimes decides the the path of the restorer. My plan is to restore the bike to some form of its original glory. It is increasingly evident to me that the bike has different plans.
The 1959 Schwinn Catalina Read More »
I have had a job since I was in 6th grade, but when I turned 15 I got my first hourly position with the grocery store up the street. It was a right of passage. I got the job by being persistent. When I accompanied my grandmother on her weekly grocery run I simply asked
Customer Service Lesson Read More »
I have an appreciation for dreams. The dreams that you have when you are asleep and the dreams you have when you are awake show you things about yourself you did not know. They illuminate the direction you are going. As far as sleep dreams are concerned, I had this dream one night that I
Two Giant Leaps of a Lion Read More »
I was early in 3rd grade when I did something that I, still– to this day– am ashamed of. I kicked a hole in a wall at school. In my defense, it was an accident. It was one of those things that you do when you are a kid, and you don’t really even think
The Confession Wall Read More »
I probably wasn’t much more than 7 years old when a tornado struck our trailer in Iowa. I lived on a small farm. We were poor growing up. Of course, it is impossible to remember exactly how poor, until I look at the pictures of our home. We lived in a small trailer. There were
The Mice and the Tornado Read More »
My life is an amazing sequence of miracles separated by miles. It was the summer after my Sr. year in high school and I had just turned eighteen and spent the last two years living with my grandmother after she rescued me from a juvenile shelter in Ames and took me into her home. It