Reflections, no not the kind you see in the mirror in the morning that scare the hell out of you cause you can’t believe you have gotten this old. Reflections of your life for this past year, that’s the one I’m referring to. Now that I’m sitting here writing this some of this year's past events scared the hell out of me as well. In the first few months of 2017 we had made the decision to ride to the Arctic Circle and back. What the hell was I thinking? Then one by one as we went around the room 16 of the guys raised their hand and said they were up for the challenge of the Arctic Ride, what the hell were they thinking?
So on the morning of July 21st our adventure started, 14 bikes with one of those being a rookie and 2 guys in a chase truck. It was an incredible send off, thanks to Synovus and a whole lot of supporters. At the end of the first day we all had a pretty good idea that none of us knew what the hell we were thinking and we were in this for 20 more days; some of the most challenging riding any of us have ever done. It’s safe to say that we had all lost our mind and with age you would think we would have more sense about us than to take off to the Arctic on a bunch of motorcycles.
Reflections!!!!! A different kind of hell, the kind that you for the most part have no control over. You see on July 21st the same day as we were leaving I’m sure somewhere a child woke up that morning as well and started his own adventure. Only theirs was not one like most of us have ever experienced. Good chance no one was even in the house when they got up or if they were they were only there to do some kind of harm to them. Sometimes this harm is physical and sometimes it’s emotional but it is harm to a child no less. You see at the end of our hard day we laugh and share our stories of the road but at the end of an abused child’s day they lay alone in their room and try to forget what the past day has brought to them. When the sun rises we all jump on the bike and eagerly head off into to the vast unknown. For the abused child they secretly hope the sun does not come up for fear of what the road of life will bring, my guess it’s always the same just a different kind of hell.
The reflection in the mirror, it’s me and I ask myself did we tell the story that needed to be told did we share enough with our community about the challenges that some kids have? It was easy to tell the story about the kids in the hospital. Also the kids in the hospital are surrounded by people who care for and love them. The kids that we are riding for this year are surrounded by darkness and fear. If you shut off the lights the reflections go away in the darkness. I feel it is our job as we go thru this next year to keep the light on. To help change what a abused child sees in their reflections as they look in the mirror. To understand that yes I came from a place of hell but I can crawl out of its grip and make a life for myself and that I can make something for my life, and there are good people in this world and I am loved.
So as I reflect I know my work is not done yet for this cause and hopefully a chance to make a difference in one child’s life. There are a lot more stories to tell and a lot more roads to travel. Hopefully we will see you on the road as we take on the Mr. Magoo ride the last half of 2018