Today I went to a reunion of sorts. It was a get together of some of the guys I grew up with. These were the guys I played football, basketball, stickball, cut grass, threw snowballs at cars, knocked on front doors and ran with, etc. They also introduced me to Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Heart, Billy Joel, Earth Wind and Fire, and all types of other stuff. I showed them how a BMX bike could be ridden. They all remembered me jumping over a VW bug on my bicycle in high school.

Funny, I mention that day on Skipper Drive when most of the school knew I was attempting the car-jumping feat. My father wasn’t usually home at the time I’d planned on doing it, but as it turned out it/he was a real blessing in disguise. About 30 people showed up waiting for me to perform the stunt. I was kinda stalling because my dad was home and I thought if he knew I was going to do it he would stop me. Not so much because he thought it was so dangerous (or stupid), but just because….

Anyway, after a while there he was at the front door looking for me to explain why so many people were in front of the house. I reluctantly told him what the deal was and he thought about for a second…………then told me to put on helmet and to be careful. WHAT?! Cool!

I went into the garage and got this old helmet that was about 29 sizes too large for me and strapped it on. I was ready – or so I thought. My public was eagerly waiting. Now this makeshift ramp that was supposed to lift me over this ’74 VW beetle was made of two kitchen chairs and some plywood. High tech huh?

I went to the end of the street, thought about what was about to happen and started pedaling my hardest. I approached the ramp at a high rate of speed and at the last possible moment veered off to the side on a dry run. My heart was racing a mile a minute and I was ready for the real thing.

I went back to the end of the block and approached again – this time for real. I hit the ramp perfectly and everything went into slow motions. I cleared the vehicle with no problem, but my front end started dropping and dropping. It dropped so much that I landed right on my head or rather that old ass helmet my father made me wear.

Ya know, I never had a great relationship with my dad, but he did me a huge favor by making me wear a helmet that day. I could have ended up getting hurt really bad. I know, I know, I should have had a helmet on in the first place. It was back in the day when seat belts weren’t required. Thanks dad. Actually, believe it or not, there is a slim that we may end up seeing each other while I’m home – it’s been 3 years since we’ve spoken.

Back to the reunion; I grew up in the greatest neighborhood ever around some really fantastic people. I’m proud to say that we are all doing well for ourselves and are well adjusted adults. It’s really trip to think about it. We went to school together and had our first jobs together. Wow, time does fly.