I hesitated putting this picture up for a while. In part, I was saving it for when I really felt it was time for me to put up a really special memory. Well, today is as good a day as any, so I’m going to share it now….
As many of you may or not know, Randy wasn’t the most steady. The years of various cancer treatments to his head deeply affected his equilibrium, amongst a LOT of other things. His balance wasn’t great and he’d fall down hundreds of times throughout his life for seemingly no reason. To make matters worse, Randy could also be his own worst enemy; sometimes he just didn’t pick his feet enough. So, since taking him out for long walks was probably not the greatest idea, getting him a bike he wouldn’t fall off of made sense.
On the day I took the main picture of this post, Randy hadn’t ridden his bike in a while. I’m not sure what the reason was for that, but it was collecting dust in his grandma’s garage. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but I think it was because he just didn’t want to ride all by himself.
So on this particular day, I was over at his grandma’s visiting him. It was a gorgeous summer day – sunny with just a light breeze. Not too hot….it was perfect. I said, “Hey Randy, why don’t we get your bike out and ride around the block a little?” He seemed reluctant because he was just relaxing and playing video games, which is exactly why I bugged him to go outside lol. With his usual “ok” (he had absolutely NO excitement in his voice lol), Randy turned off the game, opened the garage door, and threw his leg over the bike for the first time in a long time.
So with that, Randy and I started off around the block – him on his bike and me on foot beside him. At first, I was easily able to keep up with him, even teasing him for how slow he was going. “Is that all you got?”, I asked him laughingly. And that was all it took. If I challenged Randy, he always wanted to beat me at whatever it was. “You wanna go?!”, Randy yelled, which is Randy-speak for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Lol (as you’ll read in later posts, Randy had a LOT of Randy-isms like that). After that, he pedaled as fast as he could! Before I knew it, I was doing a bit of a jog just to stay within 50 feet of him lol. I didn’t like that much because I was always afraid someone might back out of their driveway and not see him. Thank God that never happened…
Now, every now and then, the moment for the perfect picture presents itself. I have no idea why, but this felt like one of those moments….
So, while I was trailing behind him, I glanced up and noticed a beautiful angle that the sun was shining on him as he rode. I stopped, grabbed my phone, and took one of my favorite pictures of Randy that I’ve ever shot. I called it “SONshine” because I was so proud of him in that moment. Don’t get me wrong, I was always proud of him, just as I am Jordan and James. But sometimes, all the health struggles Randy had endured in his life come flooding into my mind. Doctors said he’d never live past 5 years old. Then they said he’d be mostly paralyzed from the chest down, not even able to walk. They wrote Randy off as a “terminally ill” child from the very beginning of his diagnosis when he was 4…
And yet almost 20 years later, here he was….riding his bike in the sun….
Randy proved them all wrong. My son did that….so proud, even now….
Enjoy the sunshine, Randy….you earned it, my son. I love you beyond forever ❤️♾
For the love of Randy... 