Big Wheels

Mike loved to ride his Big Wheel.  He had a Green Machine with a plastic hand break for quick stops and sharp turns.  One time he was riding his Big Wheel down the sidewalk, head down, pedaling as fast as he could.  He never looked up to see that he was headed straight for one of our neighbors who was walking down the street.  I don't remember what exactly happened during the collision of Mike on the Big Wheel and the elderly neighbor who just wanted to walk down to the VFW on the corner for a drink with friends.  All I do remember is the rest of us regularly reminiscing and saying "Remember that time Mike ran into that old man with his Big Wheel!"

We would visit our grandparents in Griffith, Indiana several times a year.  They lived in the Mansards Apartment complex.  They had a big indoor pool and my grandmother would take us there to swim.  They also had a storage area under the stairs where they stored, you guessed it, Big Wheels, for when the grandkids came to visit.  As soon as we arrived for our visit, we would quickly say "Hello, Grandma and Grandpa" then run for the Big Wheels and start riding around on the sidewalks in the complex.

In our house on Hale St., we had a basement where the furnace and hot water heater were in the middle of the basement, leaving the outside space open.  We had a ping pong table down there at one time, which I remember getting unfairly yelled at for dancing on the table top.  No one ever said don't dance on top of the ping pong table!  Anyway, in the winter, we would clear an elliptical track around the furnace/middle section so we could roller skate and ride our Big Wheels.  Mike would get on his Big Wheel and go as fast as he could around and around the basement.  Now as much as I would like to only remember the heroic and selfless actions I displayed toward Mike, I was a typical older sister that looked for ways to torment him too.  One such despicable prank I played on Mike is actually linked to playing video games where you have to get the timing just right to hit the enemy or score the points.  One day, while Mike was riding around the basement in his predictable circular pattern always in the same direction, I would lay in wait on the end closest to the washing machine.  From the nearby pile of dirty laundry, I would uncover someones dirty underwear, ball it up, and wait.  As soon as he came around the corner and was in range, I would launch it toward him, directly into his face.  He would yell and scream, giving me the reaction I was after.  I would feign ignorance, saying the laundry must have fallen down the chute at just the same time he was riding by.  I don't remember getting in trouble for this little disgusting prank.  And I do feel a little bad about it, now, but not then.  I was just doing what all loving older sisters do to annoying younger brothers.  Good old Mike and his Big Wheel.