Remember

enlightening your passenger that blacktop is not blue.  Colorblindness is unfair.

Remember

wobbly steering, terrified glances, “stay in your lane!”  Even the greatest teachers struggle with stubborn students.  

Remember

trips to the chiropractor.  Another bone dislodged, another ligament sprained, another muscle torn.  Somehow, skateboarding is still permitted.

Remember

listening to dying cows — oh wait, that’s the sound of an oboe from the upstairs bedroom.  Each note, so sharp and brittle; eardrums shattered.

Remember

being there when no one else showed.  Caring when no one else bothered to.  Loving when love was needed most.

And for these memories, I thank you.