We’ve been through a lot, Black Beauty and me. Clocked a lot of miles, tackled innumerable steep climbs, raised hundreds of dollars for charities. She was my first bike, all my own, and she never let me down.
After 16 years, though, I bought Trixie last year. We’ve spent the summer getting comfortable with each other while Black Beauty languished in the basement.
When I saw a Freecycle shout out for a bike for a Hungarian scholarship student at one of the local private schools, "a tall boy who loves to bike," I knew that Black Beauty needed to move on to a new owner, a new home.
Today I said goodbye to her. I told her name to the sweet adviser who’d been on the lookout for this boy. I told her I wished him great joy on my old friend. I’m surprised by the ache in my heart. I’m happy for Beauty; she deserves to be on the streets with the wind in her spokes, a young man far from home enjoying her.
You never forget your first, though. Never.
Viszlat, my dear.
remélem jó otthon lelt
(Hope it found a good home)
((and I hope I got the accents right))
Goodbye, Black Beauty! We’ll miss you around the neighborhood.
oh and she is a beauty! i am sure the lucky owner will treat her with just as much love!