92-Year-Old Loves Bicycle Rides, So Family Builds Her a Bike She Can Still Use
Everyone gives and receives blessings in their lives.
Whether it be helping a family in need or finding the bright light in any situation, blessings are what keep us appreciative and moving forward.
According to KTVB, 92-year-old Rosemary Sorce from Boise, Idaho, is a living emblem of this very idea through what her family calls her “Blessing Bike.”
Rosemary had always loved going on bike rides as a young girl because she got to enjoy the outdoors. But soon, she began to outgrow the rides.
“Oh yeah, up until I was about 17 and then boys came into the picture!” Rosemary joked.
At her age now, riding a bike on her own isn’t possible, but thankfully, her daughter Jill found a way around that. When she saw a video of a kind soul taking senior citizens around town on a special bike, she came up with a brilliant idea!
“I was on Facebook and saw a video from Copenhagen. A volunteer built a bike and was taking seniors all over the place, and I was watching the looks on those people’s faces and then looked at my mom on the couch, who I would take out in a wheelchair and then said to Wade, is there any way you can make something like this?” Jill said.
“And he said like he always does… I think I could make that!”
“So we ended up looking on Craigslist and found an old rusted cargo bike,” Jill’s husband Wade said. “Took it all apart and Jill painted it, I put new wheels and tires and made all the mechanics right, and then gave it to her for her birthday.”
Rosemary was so excited to see the bike, finally realizing what they both had been working on in their garage for so long.
“How cute!” Rosemary exclaimed.
Instantly, mother-and-daughter bonding experiences were born through this bike. Jill reminds Rosemary to put on her seat belt, and they go on rides together each day!
“She just tells stories, and she just feels alive!” Jill said.
“I’m 92 and hell I want to keep going… Oops I shouldn’t have said that… I want to keep going,” Rosemary said. “Look at the sky. You know you don’t see all this in the car.”
Little did Jill know the real impact this bike would have on those in the community.
“We had a man stop us on the street, and he pulled over in a parking lot and physically stopped us on the road and just started crying and said ‘I wish I had this experience for my mom, how do you build a bike like this? What do you do?’” Jill said.
“So I think this isn’t just about us, it’s about what we can do we can all do for our elderly family members in helping them experience this season in their life at the very end as much as possible.”
So Jill began calling this special project the Blessing Bike, as it brightens the days of those who see the special moments between a mother and daughter.
“You feel loved, wanted!” Rosemary said. “People come up and say how nice it is, and how nice it is to see someone doing this for their mother.”
“When we are on that bike, the things that she tells me about her childhood and her experiences are stories I’ve never heard,” Jill said.
As Rosemary appreciates the life she has lived so far, she has come to cherish the bike rides with her daughter.
“It’s heavenly and that must be what heaven is like, just to know that you are loved,” Rosemary said.
What a creative way to bless others by getting outside and spending quality time together. Everyone needs a “Blessing Bike” in their lives!
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