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  • Day 76

    The Newest Ghostrider

    May 16, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    On June 3rd 2019 I was on my way to Melbourne airport to catch a flight to Warsaw when I received a video call from my son and daughter in law. They were ringing from the hospital to tell me that their first child had just come into the world. On the screen of my mobile phone I was able to catch my first glimpse of the little bundle that was going to bring such joy to our whole family. The problem was that I had to wait for 6 weeks before I was able to see him face to face for the first time.

    On March 2nd I was again on my way to the airport, this time to catch a flight to Vancouver. This was the first leg of my journey to Cuba. At the time I had no idea of the dark shadow that was soon about to descend over the whole planet. It was only after I arrived in Cuba that the awful reality of the global pandemic started to hit home. Life was not going to be the same.

    For a time it was not even certain whether I would even be able to get home from Cuba to Australia. One thing that was certain was that I would not be able to see my youngest grandson for quite some time. It was a horrible feeling.

    When I did finally get back to Melbourne, there was a 14 day period where I couldn't see anybody. Then we entered the extended period of travel restrictions which isolated us at Inverloch. The only contact we had with our children and grandchildren was via the Internet. It was a very poor substitute for genuine human contact.

    Today our separation from our youngest grandson finally came to an end. It was a time for celebration and it was even more exciting when we found he obviously had not forgotten his Nan and Pops after all. He seemed as happy as we both were.

    In a couple of weeks Jossi will be turning one, but we had already chosen his first birthday present. What better way could there be to get Jossi started on a lifetime of cycling enjoyment, than getting him his very first bike ? So that's what we did. Well technically it is a three wheeled balance bike, but as far as we are concerned, it is a real bike.

    We were not sure how he would react to a device that he had never seen before. We needn't have worried. Once he was placed on the bike, he took off. He was not only going forwards, he even mastered the skill of reversing as well. The smile on his face was enormous. You can only have your first ride once, and he was obviously enjoying his.

    At one stage he even tumbled off, falling backwards and hitting his head on the concrete. Fortunately his helmet did its job and he immediately wanted to get straight back on. There was not even a hint of crying. We all looked at each other in amazement. It had proven to be a day we will never forget.
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