Here’s what my husband, Gene, wrote about his most memorable Christmas. It’s a good example of how much we can learn about a person from the most simple story.

“Christmas 1939 was the most significant of my life—before or since. My first Bicycle! (The second one didn’t come until into my mid-30s.) It was a 26” red and white balloon-tired model with a fender rack on the back. It was also one of the very first 3-speeds on the U.S. market. Gordon also received a bicycle—different model.

“We had known about the bicycles for several months. We were promised them for Christmas in return for helping Pop clear the approximately 2 acres between the garden area and the roadway. This was an underbrush removal involving only a few large trees. It took every day after school for 3 months but we did it by mid-December.

“The bikes came out of the Montgomery Ward catalog. I had worn the print off the catalog pages reading about the bikes hundreds of times. The anticipation was unbearable.

“The price was $27 for mine and $36 for Gordon’s. Adjusting for inflation its total would be at least $1,000 in today’s dollars. Mom and Pop must have saved for over a year. They could do more with less money than anyone I have ever known could.

“The bike was not only fun but more importantly represented a degree of freedom and independence I had never known. Later, I came to realize that this was all part of an unspoken plan to nudge a very shy little boy into the real world.

“I had that bike until I was 15 and overwhelmed by hormones, girls, and cars.”

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