Thursday, July 31, 2008

Life Quilt Block #5 - My Trike

I don't recall when I actually was given this trike except that it was sometime after we moved into town from the country where there were no sidewalks to ride on. It isn't my first memory of that time and I'm pretty sure the trike wasn't new when I got it. However, I thought it was very special because I was the only one on the block that had a trike with two steps on the back. I'm sure it wasn't the safest thing in the world but I used to carry 2 other kids on the back from one corner of our block to the other.

Those were the limits of our world in those days; you didn't cross any streets. You stayed on your block. There were only a couple girls my age on our block and when we all started kindergarden one went to a different school than I went to. The other girl was my very best friend Betty Jane Nelson and we went to Lincoln Elementary. I often wondered what happened to her. I lost touch with her when our school was remodeled or rebuilt and we all had to go to other schools for 3rd grade. I lost touch with everyone again in 1952 when my father got a job in California and we left Duluth, Minnesota. In high school I reconnected by mail with a couple girlfriends from Duluth right before graduation in 1960 but we quickly lost touch again as we all began our lives.

My brother was in high school when I was small enough to ride a trike and I was like an only child. I always wanted a little brother or sister so I was inclined to play at times with some of the younger children on the block. We played school a lot and other outside games, but I remember they really loved those "back of the trike" rides.

3 comments:

Sweet P said...

I love your trike. I don't remember my trike, but I do remember my first bicycle. What freedom it brought me! I loved how quickly I could get to the library to get more books to read.

islandgirlA/alicia in Hawaii/Alicia DR Hankins/ The RealW8 Cook said...

Hi Louanne,
I've tagged you!
Come and see my post on my blog.
www.curiosities808.wordpress.com
smiles,
alicia in Hawaii

Pat Winter Gatherings said...

How sweet. I remember my trike. It wasn't easy to ride in a gravel driveway. We lived in the country with no paved driveway. Later I got to ride on the road in front of our house with mom watching. I used to wash my trike with the hose every time I used it. Mom said she never saw something stay so clean. Hmmmm...perhaps I was a candidate for therapy back then???? LOL.