At the age of 10,1 learned that if I wanted something,I could make it happen.In 1970,my father would take the family to the Westlake Mall in Bessemer,AL.It was brand new,and we would go almost every Friday night.On those evenings,I would always go to the Sears & Roebuck store to marvel at the toys. One particular Friday,I watched a young man and his girlfriend purchase a 10-speed,Free Spirit bike.As I watched the man roll the shiny bike out of the store,I said to myself,I want to do that,too.To this day I can hear the click,click,click of the back tire as it freewheeled out the door. Of course,as a 10-year-old,the first thing I did was ask my parents for a Free Spirit 10-speed bike.Quickly,they answered No! To put this into perspective,the bicycle cost $110, and my father's mortgage payment was $95-so it was more than a mortgage payment at the time.In that context,this was a very expensive bike for a 10-year-old. Still dreaming about the Free Spirit bike,I had an idea that involved my father's lawnmower.I decided that I would take the lawnmower and the gas to cut the grass in our neighbor's yard.
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