best Christmas present ever

[missourimary]

So now that we know the worst, what was your best present ever?

As a kid, I wanted a 10 speed bike. We didn't have much money, and a new bike was totally out of the question, especially a 10 speed.

A few weeks before Christmas that year, mom and dad spent a lot of time locked in the basement together. My sister and I wanted desperately to know what they were doing. We listened at the door, pestered and harrassed them. No answers but "wait til Christmas".

We got up that Christmas morning and ran to the tree. Under the tree were two new 10-speeds. They were beautiful.

Over time, I put the pieces of the story together. Dad was probably on his way home from work when he saw a couple of old bikes in the trash. He pulled over and loaded them in the trunk. The frames were sanded, repaired, perhaps rewelded, and painted by hand. New parts were added, probably from other bikes he'd found thrown away or discarded over the years. All were lovingly retouched and reworked. The project took a lot of hours from my parents who worked long hours already, but the bikes were a special part of our lives for years after that Christmas, and still remind me of a special Christmas love.