Memoir Monday: Phoebe does not know how to ride a bicycle

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Phoebe does not know how to ride a bicycle

In response to this week's question in Memory of Mondays, this post has two versions: a short and a long one. I will develop the long version so you can understand.

I was born in 1973, I am the second of five siblings and my only male sibling was born when I was about 15 years old; that is, we were, for a long time, six women at home and only one man: my sisters and me, my grandmother, my mom and my dad. I remember that at home, the first plate of food was for my dad and everything he said was a sacred word and although dad treated us like princesses, we always had to obey him.

My dad, maybe because he was the only man in the family and because we lived in a dangerous area, told all the boys to take care of us, so there was no shortage of older brothers to take care of us, and there was no shortage of older brothers to tell my dad the story. There were very few things we could do without my dad noticing.

Just as I have never smoked, just as I had my first boyfriend when I was 22 years old, I can also say that I have never ridden a bicycle. What? Yes, I've never ridden a bike.


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I remember asking the baby Jesus and Santa for it, but they never brought it to me. Then, when I got out of school, I asked my dad for it and he flatly refused and since I was at an age to ask (not to question my father's decisions) I asked him why he didn't buy me a bicycle and his words were “because I could fall or I could ‘lose my virginity’ riding the bicycle”.

My sisters and I never owned a bike, my brother, on the other hand, did.


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From a distance, I can see my father's ignorance, his fear that we would do something wrong, his desire to control everything, his machismo, but I also see the submission of my mother, my grandmother, who did not contradict him in any way. Obviously the time and the social environment influenced our upbringing, but also the small and small-town mentality of my parents.

From my childhood, I remember two things that I saw everyone doing and I could not do and that caused me tremendous envy: the first was to see people bathing in the rain and the other, riding a bicycle. Both were, for me, expressions of freedom and happiness that I never had as a child.

When I became an adult, at the first opportunity, I danced, kissed, walked, sang and even celebrated in the rain, however, I have never ridden a bicycle.

There is a famous episode of Friends where Phoebe confesses to never having owned one and not knowing how to ride a bike, and her friends buy her one and teach her how to ride it. I would like to think that at my age, I still have a lot of things to do for the first time and that before I die I should do: ride a bicycle, for example.

The images are from my personal gallery and the text was translated with Deepl

This is my participation this week for our great friend @ericvancewalton's initiative: Memoir monday. If you want to participate, here's the link to the invitation post

Thank you for reading and commenting. Until a future reading, friends

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18 comments
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Hello @nancybriti1

This is @tengolotodo and I'm part of the Silver Bloggers’ Community Team.

Thank you for sharing your excellent post in the Silver Bloggers community! As a special "token" of appreciation for this contribution to our community, it has been upvoted, reblogged and curated.

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I remember the episode with Phoebe trying to learn to ride a bike!
So yeah I think you should learn hehe 🚲

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Yes, even though my bones aren't as strong as they used to be, hahahaha, I think I need to learn before it's too late and cross it off my to-do list. Thanks so much for your comment and for the support, @tengolotodo. Regards

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It's not everyone who knows how to ride a bicycle

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Yes, that's true, but it's strange that people don't know. Thanks for your comment, my friend

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I'm surprised you don't know how to ride! I think you'd love it, especially along the beach. Cycling unlocks a different level of freedom, even if you have an automobile, it's fun to ride to places like the market or the wine shop for provisions. Cycling is also one of the best mood enhancers I've ever found. Thanks for your participation, Nancy! I hope you take the time to learn, it would make a great series of posts on Hive. : )

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I think I'm going to do it. It is a task I have put off for several years. But did you ever hear that bicycles could be a danger to girls?! Whenever I say that, people are always surprised. I already want to know what this coming Monday's memoir is all about. A big hug, Eric

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Haha @nancybriti1, I had to chuckle at your Dad's fear of what could happen if you fell off the bicycle ;)
Guess what? I tried to ride a bicycle once. I fell so hard that I swore I'd never try again.
Lovely blog Nancy, you had me smiling all the way to the end!
My son emigrated to the Netherlands, I visited last year when they lived close to the train station, but now one has to cycle there; I told him he'll have to get a 2-seater bicycle when I visit them next time as I cannot learn at my age - you're a brave woman :)

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Glad you liked it and it made you laugh! What strange things we women had to go through in our time! I think I'll learn with tricycles first too. hahahaha. Thank you so much for your gift!!! Every HIVE is good for every month. Thank you infinite

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Learning is the best, just give it a trier, but I can't still believe you don't know how to ride a bycle.

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