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Encounters
On her own two wheels
Sometimes kids don't want their parents to let go.
By MICHAEL KRUSE
Published March 22, 2007
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Skylar Brijbag hugs her father Brian Brijbag after falling from her bicycle, riding without training wheels for the first time.
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[Times photo: Edmund D. Fountain]
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BROOKSVILLE Eight-year-old Skylar Brijbag looked both ways and pushed her Disney Princess bike across the street. She lifted the front wheel over the curb and began to go up the slow hill of an asphalt lot. It was a Saturday morning. Brian Brijbag had taken off his daughter's training wheels. He put his right hand on the end of the right handlebar and his left hand on the back of the seat. Then he took his right hand off. "I'm just going to hold the back, okay?" Brian said. "Okay," she said. Now just his fingertips. "And when you don't know it," he told his daughter, "I'm going to let you go." A crawl, a walk, a fall. A loose tooth. School pictures, extra homework, and suddenly it's prom. Skylar started to lean to the right. Then to the left. "It keeps turning," she said. The two of them turned around and went back up the hill. "Ready?" he said. She nodded. Two hands. One hand. Fingertips. "Whoa." She put her feet on the ground. "I can't." "Yes, you can." Brian learned from his parents in Staten Island, New York, on the hill of the driveway in front of his house. He went down the hill, and then again, and again, and then one day he kept on going. Now father and daughter went back up the hill again. She tipped to the right. Again. She tipped to the left. Again. Her feet hit the ground. "You went like one whole parking spot," Brian said. She got back on. He put his hand on the small of her back. "Stop letting go of me," she said. "I'm supposed to let go," he said. "I can't hold on forever." Brian looked at his daughter. "Ready?" he asked. Skylar put her hands on the handlebars. She tightened her grip. Michael Kruse can be reached at mkruse@sptimes.com or 352 848-1434. ABOUT THE SERIES Suggest an Encounter Encounters is dedicated to small but meaningful stories. Sometimes they will play out far from the tumult of the daily news; sometimes they may be part of the news. To comment or suggest an idea for a story, please contact editor Mike Wilson at mike@sptimes.com or (727)892-2924.
[Last modified March 22, 2007, 06:22:09]
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by Bud
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03/24/07 07:18 PM
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Great job Skylar and Brian. There will be many more tasks in life that will seem just as impossible but you can master them, too, together.
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by gail
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03/22/07 11:39 PM
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What an awesome story! I used to be a news reporter in upstate NY, covering big issues as this one and found it very refreshing to see big time newspapers haven't lost their hearts. Good job Skyler! And Brian, keep up the great work.
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by JoAnn
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03/22/07 08:48 PM
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Next thing will be her driver's license.
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by Jennifer
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03/22/07 02:02 PM
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Great picture!! I'm very proud of my beautiful niece.
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by Tracy
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03/22/07 12:59 PM
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What a beautiful article. It just brightened my day. :)
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by kevin
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03/22/07 10:20 AM
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Thanks for the article, very thought provoking.
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by Brian
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03/22/07 09:13 AM
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Great article and picture! I was shocked when I saw it this morning. This is something my family will treasure forever! So many people have shared their feelings on this common phase of growing up. What a special and scary time for a parent.
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by Jeri
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03/22/07 08:43 AM
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I think we parents have all gone through that. If you tell the child to look straight ahead and not down, they can do it. Keep the head up. The bike will go where you look. Look ahead of where you are going.
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