Hi Everyone, it was so fun to read your responses today. I loved your poems and stories and thoughts (some private, some posted) and savored them along with a mug of strong, hot coffee. It felt like a group celebration among kindred spirits; my joy was made complete. Anyone would be moved by the generosity in this story, but unless they know and love Rivendell they can’t fully know the heights of our joy., can they? Thank you for being part of it!
I hear the bike is shipping late next week, so it will be awhile before I’ve got proper photos and a ride report (from a 12 year old!). Gosh, I think video would be a good format for that...is that possible on here? Well, meanwhile, Ethan is in raptures over here and is getting behind in pre-algebra as a result. “Mom, I daydream about my Clem and taking it to Minneapolis this summer on those trails [to the falls there] and then I realize 10 minutes have gone by and I’m lost in math!” But it’s my younger son who’s really lamenting the wait. He wants the handed-down Hotrock YESTERDAY but it’s technically Ethan’s until the mini Clem arrives. The Hotrock has a rack and basket and a Captain Hook net which Lincoln has hotly coveted, apparently. Lincoln has a fresh brass jingle bell that I ordered from Riv to make the bike his own. He learned how to make a double figure 8 knot and then rigged it to his bars. You know how dogs pee on what’s “theirs”? I think it’s like that. Tomorrow there will be a fight because “you can’t ride that bike because that’s my jingle bell and I don’t want you using it.” Lastly, if one must await their little Clem, they can at least have a picture... Sent from my iPad > On Oct 10, 2018, at 2:30 PM, Andrew Letton <let...@flash.net> wrote: > > Tears of joy... :-) > Thank you for sharing the story, Leah. > And thank you to the benefactor for demonstrating that there is still good in > this crazy world. > Cheers, > Andrew in Sydney > > > From: Bicycle Belle Ding Ding! <jonasandle...@gmail.com> > To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2018 1:59 AM > Subject: [RBW] A Boy, A Bike, and A Benefactor > > A Boy, A Bike, and A Benefactor: A True and Heartwarming Rivendell Tale > > If you are living here and now, you probably notice a scarcity of kindness > and generosity. You aren’t sure how we got here and how to change it, and > also, you’re exhausted. What can we really do? This is a story that turns > one’s typical experience on its head - a story that takes the word kind and > stretches it, tests it, transforms it. In this story, we see the word > kindness become generosity. > > Generous. When was the last time someone was generous with you? So generous > you stood there, nonplussed and humbled? Merriam-Webster defines the word > generous as “liberal in giving: openhanded.” I will tack onto that definition > from the Book of Leah: “giving until it pinches a bit; the kind of giving > that costs one something; giving without expectation for something in return; > a higher form of kindness.” (Also, there would be some stuff about Jesus in > there, but this is not that forum so I will refrain, but it will be hard.) > > Where you find generosity, there you will find kindness, also. > > This is a story about a benefactor. This is a story about a boy. And finally, > this is a story about a bike. Your icing on the cake: this is a story about a > convergence of the three. > > I had found myself in need of a bigger bike for my 12 year old son, Ethan. He > had ridden his Specialized Hotrock from 1st grade until now, his 7th grade > year. In kid years, that’s a coon’s age to have ridden one bike. We ride to > school every week, 2 miles one way, and we need dependable, quality bikes to > do it. Bikes for pre-teens are rare as hen’s teeth; but you know this. The > company I was depending on for a kids’ bicycle had suddenly closed its doors, > so I turned to the Riv List, as is my custom. Though disappointed about > losing my first choice, I knew I’d be shown the right places to shop, and be > on my way with the problem solved. > > This is exactly what happened. I reached out, people were kind, I took a > recommendation, and I ordered a bike with a bullet-proof return policy. > Several days went by, and then one night I decided to clean out my email. In > my Junk folder, there was an email I had never seen, from several days prior, > and this is what it said: > > “If you are second guessing yourself, and humble enough to accept a generous > gift for one of my favorite riding families; if you would accept a 45cm Clem > to pass down to your boys I would happily cover the difference between the > Woom you ordered and the mini Clem to help RBW. My only request is that if > you accept; to keep me anonymous.” > > Let that sink in. Do you know what he’s saying? Look again...read it a few > times...see if you can believe it. He had to spell it out for me when I > couldn’t get my mind around it. Emails. A phone call: Take the money you > planned to spend on the other bike; put it into a little Clem, the rest is > covered. This is a Benefactor, proposing a deal that costs him to bless > another. An openhanded giver, giving so that it pinches. > > When was the last time someone was generous to you? > > Once I understood, there was a choice to make. What did the Benefactor ask? > Am I humble enough to accept a generous offer - that was his question. > Reflexively: I am not, and this is pride. I don’t deserve a Benefactor. I > didn’t earn this bike. I haven’t done anything for this man. I won’t likely > have a chance to repay him for his kindness. How can I make it equal? Fair to > him? Say no, said my pride. > > When was the last time someone was generous to you? Did you allow it? > > So we spoke on the phone. We had a lovely discussion about who he is and how > he arrived at this idea, and why he sent the email. Then I realized: my > Benefactor wasn’t looking to make it equal. He was aiming for quite the > opposite. > > When was the last time someone took less so you could have more? > > I spoke to Ethan this morning, asked him what he thought. It was Christmas in > October around here - there was actual jumping for joy. “I never thought I’d > have a Rivendell!” Humbled, I agreed to the deal. Our Benefactor took care > of everything. He made the call, placed the order, sent me an email with an > order confirmation, and now there’s a little silver mini-Clem, pony-like and > lovely, with a boy’s name on it, sent from a Benefactor he can never repay. > > When was the last time you were generous to someone who would never repay you? > > Today, inexplicably, we were on the receiving end of a grand gesture. I don’t > know that our Benefactor can truly know the depths at which we feel this. I > will tell this story, keep his secret, and he will read about it. There will > be photos of Peterson boys in coming years on a silver, pony-like Clem. It > doesn’t seem enough. > > Is it going to end with you? > > This is the question I’m asking myself now. When someone extends generosity > to you, it frees you up to do the same. Not to square up or make it even, as > my pride would have it, but because I’ve been the recipient of something good > that is meant to be shared. > > In two weeks’ time a baby will be born and she will be my niece and her heart > will have a large hole and she will have Down Syndrome. I have a > mother-in-law, young and afflicted with an uncommon dementia that causes her > to have delusions and paranoia against us, her close family. So I can see > some opportunities on my horizon, to give until it pinches. I will look for > more of them in the grocery store or on the bike path or on this very List as > our Benefactor did. > > And friends, if you follow his example, I’d love to know about it - would you > report back here? > > Photos will be forthcoming. Look for the Clem-pony and a jubilant boy! > Yours, > Leah > > > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google > Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/qrKUcYAQetM/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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