In the very, very, very awkward phase I was in during this photo (late middle school? early high school?), I was very involved in church. We went away to this singing choir summer camp (pictured here), and I fell totally hard for John Lewis. He was sophisticated (he liked PINK FLOYD!) he was older than me (I swear he was in HIGH SCHOOL) and he was funny. What else did I need? Nothing.

So, when we got back to Houston, like any respectable girl, I decided to visit him and see if he might fall madly in love with me back (spoiler alert: No). So I looked up his house (right near when my future-stepfather lived, on the same street as a matter of fact), and saw that it was about 10 miles from my house.

John Lewis was the cool one with jazz hands, obviously, and I’m the one with the dinner plates as glasses.

I asked my mom how I could get there, and having had one really bad experience on a bus (… I was slapped. The details are fuzzy. I think I spoke out too much? But I know I was going to Rice University’s middle school program and I know another passenger slapped me and it was hard to get inspired to go back on the Houston bus system again), I decided that I could bike.

I had, up to this point, biked from school to my home from fifth grade, and biked around my neighborhood a bit. No experience biking 10 miles each way, no experience navigating busy city streets, signaling, and taking the lane: But, lots and lots of confidence.

So, armed with Google Maps (HA!) (armed with nothing but my own stubborn and only-in-Houston sense of direction), I set out from my home on Hanworth Street in Glenshire to Rutherglenn. I hadn’t even called John Lewis, just decided it was a nice summer day and surely he would be home.

I got there. I survived! I signaled. I used back roads, busy roads, I crossed crazy intersections, and I thoroughly enjoyed the last mile on Houston’s significant trail, the Braes Bayou trail.

Honestly, I also loved arriving at John Lewis’ house. I loved seeing him, and talking to him, and listening to him tell me about Pink Floyd (in his entirely darkened room, further proof to me of his ultimate coolness). I loved being able to get around a city as big as Houston, by myself. I loved human powered movement, and I loved that it brought me closer to John Lewis.

Thanks to John, for his patience with my crush, and to my bike, for always, always, always getting me where I need to go.

*my dad is still struggling after his recent bike/car crash — additional thoughts/prayers, please?*