There are times in life when something in the present sparks a memory of the past.

Numerous instances, day by day, I hear a song, smell a certain scent or witness an activity that takes me back to my childhood.

It wasn’t long ago the last time that this happened to me. I was rushing around my house trying to gather everything that I needed before I headed to my summer class bright and early one morning. I jumped in my car and was ready to start the day as best I could, regardless of the fact that summer classes and ridiculously early mornings are a terrible combination. I finally got in my car and headed on my way. In the distance, I witnessed a stop light switch from green to red in a matter of seconds. It was one of the days where I hit every red light possible.

As I glared at the red light anxiously waiting for it to turn green, I noticed a dad and his little girl riding their bikes side by side. I immediately remembered the many times that my dad and I would go bike riding together.

When I was 6, I got my first bike for my birthday. I was so excited to learn how to ride, that I begged my dad to teach me that day. After numerous attempts and falls, I was riding like a pro.

I practiced diligently so that we could go out on our first ride together. A few days later, we went around the block once and came back home so I could really test out my bike and figure out how to use the brakes.

As I got more experienced, our bike rides grew longer, and it became a nightly routine. After dinner, we would immediately grab our bikes, helmets and not come back until dark.

A few times we had some crazy stories to tell my mom when we came back home.

My dad and I decided that we should bike to the trail head of a hike and then hike up the mountain. We were almost to the top when an abundant amount of water was headed straight for us. He picked me up immediately and braced himself as it smacked against his small stature. Luckily, it wasn’t enough to knock him over. Now that there was so much water, we had to create bridges with logs and planks of wood that we found in order to get back to where our bikes were. It sounds unbelievable, but it really did happen.

A horn honked, and I realized that the stop light had finally turned green. I drove past the little daughter and her dad and thought how amazing it is that she was having a great time with her father. It is so important to spend time with family members and to never take any of it for granted.

I am thankful for the moments like these, the memories that were made and that I had such a great childhood.