So this bike reminded me of how simple things can make such a huge difference, and how kindness and dedication really matter. It’s a bit of a thread.
Both of my kids have ridden their bikes alone to school though all weather since the ages of 8, often to the chagrin of our local school. To them, it was normal. 
There were times I would get phone calls from the school office asking to pick them up at the end of the day because it was cold outside. The conversation would get awkward when I would ask them what the temperature was in the morning when they rode in.
I remember one particular day when my wife and I were together where her phone rang right after I hang up.
We live in a nice neighborhood. Most parents drive big SUVs. The last part of the trip was the most harrowing for the kids, but they managed. Whenever there were school events the topics would float around to, “do you feel that your kids are safe?”
My wife would always artfully steer me away from those conversations. As developmental pediatrician who spent a lot of time with kids with attention issues she would politely remind people that daily exercise and a good breakfast was a tenement of a good day at school.
I think we were largely written off as eccentric, but one day a parent in our neighborhood came up to us and asked if my son was looking for a job. She had gotten a new position and couldn’t drop off her child to school anymore, and wondered if Aidan would shepherd her.
Aidan loved the idea. He new Mac and liked the idea of having a little sister. He was in grade 8 and ran the show like a champ. He would get up early, arrive at her front door and escort her to school. He chose the safest route and rode slowly so she would keep up.
He soon realized that he needed to get up a lot earlier than he thought, because Mac was a “dawdler”, but he never complained. His job expanded to taking her to after school piano lessons, for which he negotiated an additional fee.
One day, I got an urgent text from him. He had forgotten about a volleyball practice and was worried that he couldn’t be in two places at once. I was off that day so I volunteered to ride with her if it was okay with her mom.
Mac was a gem, but dawdler was an understatement. She took forever to get ready, lost the key to her bike lock and couldn’t find it. I doubled her home on my rack. The whole way she never stopped talking. It was winter, and even fishtailing around corners wouldn’t bring silence.
But as I listened to her I was enthralled. Her love of her morning ride, how she looked forward to Aidan’s arrival every morning and how the adventure of riding her first winter was so epic that her parents had started doing it to.
Her parents had confided that her marks in school had improved, and her confidence and independence has blossomed, to the point that as Aidan headed off to high school, she was excited to take on her commute solo.
Two years later I happen across this. She’s still at it! Mentorship works. When I think about all that Aidan learned at his first job, I’m pretty damn proud, but to see someone else benefit from it like this, that’s community.
It really does.
