Dedicated to Penny and Larry !

Two riders down...but not by accident!

    Penny and Larry were the two group members who were forced out of the ride for personal reasons. Penny's father, in his 90's, was not well at the outset of the motorcycle trip. I could relate to their stress as my mother-in-law was having her own health issues, serious ones, bad ones, as we thought at the time.

    On Saturday, just a few days into the ride, Penny and Larry got the dreaded call that they must come home immediately as Penny's father had taken a bad turn. The whole group was subdued as Penny and Larry's were loaded for transport back to the bike dealer.

     Penny and Larry were from West Virginia, from an area where they liked to brag they were the paupers of the neighbourhood, surrounded by multi-million dollar homes, by famous rock stars, by celebrities. They both laughed that they had never expected to be in such illustrious starry company, but there they were. Penny, not being big on cooking, likes to underline that grocery shopping for her is just a phone call away, with delivery by the store. Imagine, and they aren't celebrities!!!

    Larry was the more subdued, soft spoken of the couple. But when he spoke, there was always something of merit, of value in what he said. He wasted no words. He remembered facts very well and was able to recall them clearly for the benefit of his listener. He talked about riding, camping, roughing it by bike. A gentle man, but one who listened as well as he described. A perfect foil to Penny's epiee!

    But Penny was no shrinking wall flower. A very gently spoken woman, who giggled and laughed, smiled and gleamed in her effervescence as she engaged everyone in conversation.  A very caring woman who watched and engaged individuals who may have seemed to be left out of the social circle. They were never left out when Penny was there. She remembered little things about the person and brought them up as she engaged the person in conversation. She was empathetic and engaging every where she turned. A gentle, caring lady !

    We never did learn the end of the story in relation to Penny's dad but I think we didn't really want to know for whatever reasons each of us had:  engaged in our own excitement, troubled by our own family health stresses, whatever. It may have been a good thing but still, as human beings, I am certain every member of the group felt badly for Penny and Larry and hoped the outcome for them was one which would give them a facet of satisfaction...either making it back on time, or better still, making it back to good news.

    We all hoped and we all prayed in our own personal way.

     We still wish you well Penny and Larry.

    Visit back !