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Starla and Pr
incess are busting proud to announce a new addition to our little family – BETSY. Betsy is a beautiful, precocious, red and yellow Magna Excitor dirt bike. She weighed in at 43 pounds (she’s a big girl!), with 24” wheels, and was purchased at a yard sale in Remington yesterday for $100. We are ready to make a place for her in our home and take on the responsibility of caring for this precious tot with special needs (it’d be a good idea to get the brakes replaced pretty soon). Best of all, her quick-release seat height adjuster makes it simple for both of us (6 inches apart) to ride comfortably in a snap. We couldn’t be more delighted with our little one! We plan to throw ourselves a Bicycle Shower soon, invitations to follow.
This happy delivery rights a sad chapter from earlier this year. Princess had been longing for a new bike since her beloved dirt-spewing sweetheart from college days was kidnapped shortly after our move to Baltimore. The thieves took her from us while she was chained to a signpost outside our apartment. They were a determined crew. Though the signpost had no sign and they could have simply lifted the bike up over the top, they decided to take the hard way and actually removed the pole from the cement. Really, there was a big crater in the sidewalk, the post was on the ground, and the bike was gone for good.
But our tragedies did not end with that loss. Princess asked for a bike for Christmas from my folks last year, knowing that it was too big a gift to ask for – sort of a joke, like asking for tickets to Panama. I wanted so much for her to have it. It was a big gift, and more than I could afford by tremendous much, but still it seemed such a reasonable dream. My mama, bless her sweet, loving heart, really wanted to help me get it for her. I think it was her goal to try and help Princess have a really special Christmas – it’s the sort of holiday my family excels at making jolly, and Princess’ people aren’t quite that kind of Rockwell family – and she wanted Princess to feel welcomed in our family and loved real hard.
So I saved up as much as I could and got about half. My wonderful mama saved too. She secretly put aside a little extra and a little extra extra, made me promise not to tell Sissty how much she spent on Princess so she wouldn’t be mad, and together we raised $250 for Princess’ dream. I made a special envelope for the money. Dad got her a gift certificate for Dick’s so she could get a helmet and a lock, too.
It was a big deal. Princess was really happy, and I was really proud.
But we were so broke. We weren’t making it last winter, we were really struggling. The selfless embrace of those hard-won dollars, that dear, special, cherished gift – it got spent on the light bill. Broke my heart, it honestly makes me want to cry thinking of it again now.
So Betsy has arrived. And with her, the promise of that Gift of the Magi is made good. We called Mama to let her hear us laugh and coo at our Betsy-girl. Mama tells me lots of lesbians adopt babies from China (she wants me to know she's hip to the ways of my people). “Ride her in good health,” says Mama, the traditional wish that comes with every gift in our family. And the gift certificate is still intact, being useless to trade for food or phone minutes. A happy ending for us and for Betsy too.
incess are busting proud to announce a new addition to our little family – BETSY. Betsy is a beautiful, precocious, red and yellow Magna Excitor dirt bike. She weighed in at 43 pounds (she’s a big girl!), with 24” wheels, and was purchased at a yard sale in Remington yesterday for $100. We are ready to make a place for her in our home and take on the responsibility of caring for this precious tot with special needs (it’d be a good idea to get the brakes replaced pretty soon). Best of all, her quick-release seat height adjuster makes it simple for both of us (6 inches apart) to ride comfortably in a snap. We couldn’t be more delighted with our little one! We plan to throw ourselves a Bicycle Shower soon, invitations to follow.This happy delivery rights a sad chapter from earlier this year. Princess had been longing for a new bike since her beloved dirt-spewing sweetheart from college days was kidnapped shortly after our move to Baltimore. The thieves took her from us while she was chained to a signpost outside our apartment. They were a determined crew. Though the signpost had no sign and they could have simply lifted the bike up over the top, they decided to take the hard way and actually removed the pole from the cement. Really, there was a big crater in the sidewalk, the post was on the ground, and the bike was gone for good.
But our tragedies did not end with that loss. Princess asked for a bike for Christmas from my folks last year, knowing that it was too big a gift to ask for – sort of a joke, like asking for tickets to Panama. I wanted so much for her to have it. It was a big gift, and more than I could afford by tremendous much, but still it seemed such a reasonable dream. My mama, bless her sweet, loving heart, really wanted to help me get it for her. I think it was her goal to try and help Princess have a really special Christmas – it’s the sort of holiday my family excels at making jolly, and Princess’ people aren’t quite that kind of Rockwell family – and she wanted Princess to feel welcomed in our family and loved real hard.
So I saved up as much as I could and got about half. My wonderful mama saved too. She secretly put aside a little extra and a little extra extra, made me promise not to tell Sissty how much she spent on Princess so she wouldn’t be mad, and together we raised $250 for Princess’ dream. I made a special envelope for the money. Dad got her a gift certificate for Dick’s so she could get a helmet and a lock, too.
It was a big deal. Princess was really happy, and I was really proud.
But we were so broke. We weren’t making it last winter, we were really struggling. The selfless embrace of those hard-won dollars, that dear, special, cherished gift – it got spent on the light bill. Broke my heart, it honestly makes me want to cry thinking of it again now.
So Betsy has arrived. And with her, the promise of that Gift of the Magi is made good. We called Mama to let her hear us laugh and coo at our Betsy-girl. Mama tells me lots of lesbians adopt babies from China (she wants me to know she's hip to the ways of my people). “Ride her in good health,” says Mama, the traditional wish that comes with every gift in our family. And the gift certificate is still intact, being useless to trade for food or phone minutes. A happy ending for us and for Betsy too.
She can jump a curb already, can you believe it? She’s getting so big!One afternote – I did a little research on Magna Excitor bikes. Um, this wasn’t that great a deal, actually. The Magna Excitor is a department-store basic, and Target sells it new for about what we paid. It’s not fabulous quality, the parts may wear out on the quicker side. It’s also seen as a bit heavy and clunky by cyclists.
But you know what? Cyclists are often snobbish about their machines. The reviews from average riders are pretty good, actually. And she’s worth that amount of money to us, surely. We aren’t going for long-distance competitive rides, we just need an extra form of exercise and mid-distance transportation around town.
And Betsy is our sweet baby! She’s already brought us closer as a family. We won’t be sorry we adopted her, she’s PERFECT. Welcome Home, sweetheart!
3 comments:
Actually, love, I got around $120 -$150 for a bike that Christmas. And please, the term is "mountain bike"; "dirt bike" makes people think of those oh-so-tacky BMX bikes.
This is a great example of what Sissty said -- "Starla has very clear memories, but they aren't always true."
If I asked Mama she'd remember exactly how that worked out. She'd spent too much on you because this was in addition to EVERY SINGLE THING on your list, except long underwear, which she got you a month or two later.
I also guess $60 - $75 seemed like a huge amount of money last Christmas.
Dirt Bike, Mountain Bike, whatevs. She's our Betsy.
I just created a RSS feed on LJ for your blog, so I won't miss posts; it's "godsvaginablog" -- you can find it on my friends list if you're curious. Love you!
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