Last Friday I was travelling south through central Alabama. I was running in and out of rain so I was in my rain gear. I stopped north of Birmingham at a Cracker Barrel for lunch. After eating I was sitting on a bench in front of the store putting my rain pants on. An older woman came rolling through the parking lot in a wheel chair being pushed by a somewhat younger woman. As they went past my bike they stopped and the older lady was looking at the bike and saying something to the younger lady.


When they got to me she asked woman to stop and she looked at me and said "You've got a beautiful motorcycle."
"Thanks."
She looked up and told the woman "I'm going to sit out here for a few minutes."
"We've got to go inside momma."
"I'm going to sit out here for a while!"
"Momma we've got to go inside."
"Elizabeth, I'm GOING to sit outside for a few minutes!"
At this point the younger woman just walked off and went in the store.


The old lady started off telling me about how her boy friend bought a new Harley when he came home from the Korean War, they got married, and spent over a year travelling around the country. He ended up making a career of the Army and rode Harleys for over 30 years until an injury stopped him. I spent 20 years in the Army and have been riding since '67 so we sat and swapped stories for over half an hour. Finally the daughter came out and said "Momma, our food is getting cold."


The old lady thanked me for sharing stories with her and reached out putting her hand on my knee. "You know, I'd really like to go for another ride. But you've got that pack on your bike and she'd call the police." The younger woman pushed her into the store glaring at me over her shoulder as she went.


I'd almost waited until I got through Birmingham to stop for lunch. I'm sure glad I didn't.

 

what a great story!!! Thank you for sharing...

 

Aww that's a great story, bet she enjoyed remembering her life.

 

them biker chicks eh... they will steal your heart n soul no matter what age they are... of course their kids are another story...

thanks for sharing.

 

Great story - one of the benefits of riding - the people you meet and the memories you elicit in them.

 

Thanks and you made my day. Guess I will have to stop and smell the roses on front porches during my "Trips".

See you on the Road

Walter

 

With all the bad we hear about these days I'm glad to hear some of the good!! Thank you for sharing this story. May you have many more miles and stories to tell.

 

That story made me smile for the first time today.
Thank you.

 

I'm sort of an "Old Timer" myself (at 60), but I've had similar (if not quite so charming) experiences over the years with folks even older than I coming up and starting to talk about when they used to ride. Many cynics on the Forum talk about how the camaraderie (aka the "brotherhood", but that excludes the ladies) of the road isn't what it used to be, but that's not been my experience. I meet great people everywhere.

Great story! Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks for sharing a great story! Too bad you couldn't have taken her for a ride.