To everything there is a season

We bought the blue Gold Wing back in 2006, I think.  I know it was before Cliff had the four-way bypass.  It was my favorite.  All the road trips and picnics and riding together on a motorcycle... it was new to me, and I always said it was the most "together" thing we did.  Wow, so many memories.

At some point he got to worrying about wrecking and killing me.  Yes, that's right, ME.  He wasn't worried about himself.  Anyhow, he talked me into the idea of putting it up for sale, and we sold it.  

However, the first three-day weekend that came along, we heard motorcycles thundering past our house all day and we both got depressed.  We realized we had been too hasty.  We missed riding.  

I suggested that we buy an older Gold Wing and just ride it occasionally, close to home.  That sounded like a safe enough option.  Unfortunately, it wasn't as comfortable a ride as the blue one we had sold.  Still, we had something to ride, and it hadn't been that big an investment.  

Then Cliff's cousin bought a newer Honda Gold Wing, a white one (Cliff's favorite color for ANY vehicle) and decided it didn't suit him.  We sold the old wine-colored bike that I called "Yesterday's Wine" and bought the cousin's Gold Wing.     

About a year ago, we decided we were truly ready to get out of riding.  We're both getting older, my knees hurt, and Cliff knew his reflexes weren't what they used to be.  We put the white motorcycle on Craigslist.  Shortly thereafter, Cliff had a serious illness that put him in the hospital for over a week and kept him seriously disabled for a month or so afterwards.  During the time when he was at his sickest, a buyer came for the Gold Wing.  
That was definitely the right time, because neither of us have had any regrets about selling that motorcycle.  Today, as motorcycles roared past on 224 Highway (a "scenic" byway for more reasons than one), I never felt any regret.   I was happy for the bikers going past, knowing how much fun they were having.  I said prayers for their safety and prayers of thanks for all the fun Cliff and I had together on our three motorcycles.  

It was a wonderfully perfect time of our lives, a time I will never forget or regret.