Teaching my grandson how to fix his bike

[oneighty]

Nate is nine or so. His parents are divorced. His Dad does not have time for him.

He had a flat tire on his bike. He borrowed a tire pump from a friend over on the next street. The tire did not hold air.

So off we go to 'Ace is the place' to get a new inner-tube and a tire pump. At Ace Nate also discovered a bicycle helmet a bicycle lock and a tire inner-tube patch kit that he "Really needed". Now his grand-mother owes me $31.00 U.S. but she do not mind because she loves Nate too and it was her idea that he go to 'Ace is the place' with me in the first place.

At home I showed him how a box-end wrench is better than an adjustable wrench for removing the wheel from the bike. I taught him how to remove the inner-tube from the tire. I taught him how to pump up the inner-tube and leak test it in a wall-papering tray full of water. The old inner-tube did not leak. Nate had been using the pump wrong yesterday and did not actually put air in the tire.

So following my instructions he put everything back together. Then I showed him how to oil the chain and the bearings. All the while I was doing these things I realized that I had not worked on a bicycle for at least sixty years and it was just as though I had learned my self just a while back.

My Dad never taught me those things either. Nobody did.

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[Rowdyboy]

1. My dad was a long haul truck driver....Left home after midnight Sunday

Got back Friday night, slept Saturday and Sunday, and saw his 5 kids for a few hours Sunday before leaving again. He really didn't have time. Instead, my grandpa (mom's dad) taught me to change bike tires, and other boy stuff like that. Nearly 45 years later the memory of that time spent with him is still imprinted on my mind. Your grandson will remember you for just as long, with just as much love.

I care for my father, but I ADORED my grandfather.

[oneighty]

5. Hey Rowdyboy

How you been doing?

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[Fridays Child]

2. I cannot imagine a nicer way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

You're a very cool grandpa and you're lucky to have Nate, too. :)

[gbwarming]

3. Very nice. It's a joy to make something work again

It's all too easy to forget (or never learn) that not everything has to be thrown away when it breaks.

[skygazer]

4. Your post made me cry

Silly me.

Those times are the best times, the times when you're just one on one with a kid and they're learning something cool and are into it.

He'll always remember that, I guarantee.

My son's father left when my son was 7. My best friend (who is a guy) made a point of stopping by regularly and asking Jon if he wanted to go help with this or that, or work on a tractor, or learn how to clean the carb on a snowmobile. He taught him how to use the lawnmower properly and safely and how to stack wood and shoot a BB gun.

I really apppreciated it - I could have taught him all that but what he needed was some time with a man. He's grown to be a great young man now but I miss that little boy sometimes.

Nice post.

[oneighty]

6. Bikes and me 'Kings Last Ride'

Been the better part of sixty years ago that we loaded old King the Cocker Spaniel dog into the basket of my silver painted pre-WW2 bike.

King and I rode down U.S. Route Five through the village where we crossed onto U.S. Route Twenty west toward the Vet's office. I had to push the bike up the very long and steep Route Twenty hill and then we rode another mile or two old and sick King and me.

Soon the Vet finished his job. We loaded King back into my bike's basket and rode on home. We flew like the wind going down the Route Twenty hill old King and me.

Back up on Route Five and home I buried old King with the rest of our pets near the cliff over looking Lake Erie.

I do not remember crying then.

Perhaps I saved the tears for today.

Bikes remind me of that.

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[skygazer]

7. Wow

And yet that was probably much healthier for you than the way we insulate kids from death now. Sad, yes, but it's a reality that we all face.

When our old Boxer got so old and ill that he began to suffer, I called my friend the vet who came to our house to put him down. I lived on a big farm and out in our back yard, all the kids gathered round and petted him and loved him as he eased out of life.

Then we carried him out in the back field to a stand of trees and in the center, we dug a grave. It was evening when we started and by the time we were done, a full moon was rising over the trees and the night was so peaceful and beautiful. The kids ranged in age from about 6 to 14 and it was actually nice. Love and respect and a beautiful resting place - what more can anyone ask for?

[oneighty]

8. So many dogs

so little time. I would not want my Nate to have to do that.

Did you know there is a fish called the 'Stargazer'? We used to catch them in the (Rock) shrimp trawls in deeper water. Their eyes are in the top of their head, forever looking upward gazing at the stars. I guess!

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