The main thing I enjoyed most about my childhood was riding my bike as it gave me my first taste of freedom. Though it did get me in trouble a few times especially when my brother and I would venture out further than we should. One time we rode our bikes a far distance away from home resulting in us getting into trouble - it was from that point on I was limited to just riding my bike in my local neighborhood.
Thankfully at this in my life I didn’t face much difficulty related to Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy. Actually when I was growing up it was hard for my parents to keep me inside. Most days I wouldn’t return home until the street lights came on. Then in the morning once the sun would come out my first priority was to run outside to ride my bike. It didn’t matter if I was joined by my friends or not it was all about having fun. That was until the first time I crashed my bike after hitting some loose gravel. At the time I was riding the black and yellow BMX pro thunder sports bike you see pictured above. When this happened I left my bike behind and ran home crying with a small stone lodged in my forehead - it was at that point I realized I had to be a little more careful.
But I didn’t allow this to keep me from riding the same way as a child - I didn’t allow a diagnosis of Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy to slow me down. Now I did end up with a few stitches but like anything in life you learn your lesson and keep on living your life. That is why I continued riding my bike and even though I struggled climbing even the smallest hill there was really nothing I could do about it, so I would end up just pushing my bike instead. I just had to learn how to adjust.
There’s no doubt that I enjoyed growing up in the 80’s as there was so much to keep a child occupied. Things such as the very popular AFX slot car tracks and even something known as the Rubik's cube. Another really popular thing for me to do as a child was riding my bike to the local convenience store to buy a package of O-Pee-Chee brand hockey cards, which came with a pink stick of bubble gum inside. At the time I believe I was more interested in the bubble gum than collecting hockey cards. Rather than keeping them in pristine condition at the time, hockey cards were used to play games, including one where we would line them up in a row against the wall and throw the remaining cards trying to knock them over. We would even put them between our bicycle spokes all in an effort to make them sound a bit like a motorbike. Obviously we ended up damaging what turned out to be some of today’s most sought after and valuable collector cards. Being children I am guessing at the time we simply didn’t know any better.
Thankfully my brother kept his Wayne Gretzky Rookie card out of harm’s way and luckily still has it today. As you can see my childhood was spent focused on having fun and this resulted in taking my focus off the fact that I had Muscular Dystrophy. Sure I face a few challenges along the way but at this point in my progression it didn’t end up ruining my childhood.
There’s no doubt that I enjoyed growing up in the 80’s as there was so much to keep a child occupied. Things such as the very popular AFX slot car tracks and even something known as the Rubik's cube. Another really popular thing for me to do as a child was riding my bike to the local convenience store to buy a package of O-Pee-Chee brand hockey cards, which came with a pink stick of bubble gum inside. At the time I believe I was more interested in the bubble gum than collecting hockey cards. Rather than keeping them in pristine condition at the time, hockey cards were used to play games, including one where we would line them up in a row against the wall and throw the remaining cards trying to knock them over. We would even put them between our bicycle spokes all in an effort to make them sound a bit like a motorbike. Obviously we ended up damaging what turned out to be some of today’s most sought after and valuable collector cards. Being children I am guessing at the time we simply didn’t know any better.
Thankfully my brother kept his Wayne Gretzky Rookie card out of harm’s way and luckily still has it today. As you can see my childhood was spent focused on having fun and this resulted in taking my focus off the fact that I had Muscular Dystrophy. Sure I face a few challenges along the way but at this point in my progression it didn’t end up ruining my childhood.
The story continues please (Click Here) to read
“Dealing with childhood bullying related to Becker Muscular Dystrophy.”
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