 Beulah Hatter and Ron Freborg head off into the mid-day sunshine, Hatter with her oxygen strapped to her back. |
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Posted on 08/23/2005 12:53:01 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Motorcycle Mama
By THERESA HOGUE Gazette-Times reporter
Assisted living resident finally gets her Harley ride
Behind the front desk at Stoneybrook Assisted Living Center sat a pile of leather motorcycle gear and a shiny helmet, hidden from the view of passing residents. Guarding them carefully, administrative assistant Vickie Gregoroff giggled as she waited for resident Beulah Hatter to make her way downstairs for lunch.
"I'm just too excited," she said, practically bouncing in her seat.
Hatter, 82, has long maintained that she has two things she'd like to do before she died, ride a motorcycle in full gear, and drive a semi-truck. Her daughter, Nancy Payne, was determined to make at least one of those wishes come true for her mom, who has lung cancer.
"They don't call her the Mad Hatter for nothing," Payne joked about her mom, who has never hesitated to try anything. Payne said her mom is a real horseman, an artist and a gourmet cook, and was always doing crazy things, such as staging a mock-kidnapping of her daughter on her wedding day.
Beulah and her husband of 61 years, Norm, moved into Stoneybrook last year from Redding, Calif. Payne, a school teacher in Albany, wanted her parents close by, especially after Beulah was given three months to live by her doctor. But Beulah has already outlived that diagnosis by more than a year.
Payne wanted to arrange a motorcycle ride as a surprise for her mother's 82nd birthday in June, but the plan fell through when her friend Ron Freborg, a life-time Harley rider, injured his knee and couldn't take her. But Monday, a recovered Freborg pulled up to the front door of the assisted living center and marched inside and up to Beulah's table, where she'd just sat down to have lunch with Norm and their daughter.
Beulah, surprised but game, followed Ron out to the front of the center, where Payne helped her put on the leather gear that had been hidden behind the front desk.
"You better get on your chaps," Payne said, holding up a set of black leather pants.
"Oh my heavens, yes," Beulah said. "Oh my word!"
The chaps presented a little bit of difficulty.
"You're going to have to do the hokey pokey," Payne joked, as she maneuvered her mother's legs into the chaps.
"I can still do that good for an old lady," Beulah joked.
Payne slipped a black leather jacket over Beulah's shoulders, and took off her glasses long enough to put a helmet on her head. Beulah's oxygen tank, hidden in a small black backpack, fit over her shoulders, making it easy to take it along.
"Ok, you ready? Let's go!" Freborg said, leading Beulah over to his motorcycle. "The first rule is you've gotta enjoy it. The second rule is, when I lean, you only lean in the direction I lean."
As Beulah climbed on the back of the bike, her husband, Norm, made his way to the curb and stared at her.
"Look at that girl!" he said, staring in surprise. "What the hell are you doing there?"
He walked over and jokingly slugged her in the shoulder. When Freborg revved up the engine and the pair took off, Norm watched them go.
"I may never see her again," he said.
"This is just so special," Payne beamed as her mother and Freborg disappeared down the road. She and Freborg have been longtime friends, and he was the natural choice to fulfill one of Beulah's last wishes.
When the dynamic duo returned to the center, Beulah was flushed and excited from her ride.
"She's done this before," Freborg said, after helping her off. "She's too good of a pro."
"That was fantastic," Beulah beamed. "It was just wonderful."
Beulah and her family went back inside to get some brownies, topping off an exciting morning. Now, Beulah said, she has only one wish left, to drive a semi-truck.
"Even if it's only this far," she said, holding out her hands about two feet. "I doubt if I'll get that done."
But after having outlived a dire diagnosis, and taking a spin on a powerful motorcycle, anything is possible.
Mom?
Beulah Hatter and Ron Freborg head off into the mid-day sunshine, Hatter with her oxygen strapped to her back. |
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That looks more like a Yamaha.
Having given a number of (quite) elderly people a spin on the Wing, I can say that most really enjoy the experience. Give an old folk a ride and the chances are very good that you'll make their day - perhaps their year!
Man, for some reason I can't convince the oldsters to ride with me.
You mean I've still got a chance to do this?
The Voice of Experience!
< |:)~
ping
Yep ~ I'll be 75 in October. :):)
hey!!! You trolling for dates??? :-)
Man, for some reason I can't convince the oldsters to ride with me.
Very cool story. 99% of the biker crowd are very good people. I've wanted a Harley for a long time, and was considering buying myself one this summer. In the end, I decided to save the money for my next house. Damned practicality.
No ~ I prefer to ride solo but have been known to haul a few trollops around from time to time.
Besides I'm a happily married old curmudgeon and my wife doesn't ride. :):)
"and was always doing crazy things, such as staging a mock-kidnapping of her daughter on her wedding day."
Don't know what she did with the rest of her life, but she shoulda been a biker. What a wonderful lady. She's just too tough to go this soon.
Thanks
....and yes, she earned that number.
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