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Daughter's bicycle takes dad down memory lane
(by Sue Reid - July 21, 2011)
Daughter's bicycle takes dad down memory lane
By SUE REID
When Solon resident Jim May bought a bicycle for his adult daughter Maureen, who had Down syndrome, he painted a big yellow mark on his driveway on Solon Road, he recalled.
"I told her she should not go past that mark, and she never did," said Mr. May, who has lived in the city since 1958. "I made sure to watch her ride all the time.
Mr. May said his daughter rode her bike "proudly up and down the driveway."
The bike, which had three wheels and a basket in the back, was blue and silver. Riding it was just one of the many ways his daughter, a 1978 graduate of Solon High School, lived life to the fullest, Mr. May said.
"She kept me running with her activities," he said.
In addition to having Down syndrome, Maureen developed diabetes at the age of 14, became insulin dependent and had to be given three shots of insulin a day. His wife, Dorothy, who has Parkinson's disease, became an expert in helping her with her diabetes, Mr. May said. "We took very good care of her."
The Mays also have two sons, Robert, who has multiple sclerosis, and Phil, and a daughter, Sally, as well as grandchildren.
Maureen attended workshops through the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and worked in its community employment division for 30 years. After living with her parents most of her life, she moved into a group home, Mr. May said.
Early last year Maureen developed pneumonia and a few months later died of complications of diabetes at the age of 52.
"She died Aug. 17, 2010," Mr. May said. He will never forget the day she was born, which was the day they were to move into their home in Solon, he said. "She was a loving child."
Mr. May said it wasn't until recently that he decided to take her bicycle out of the shed and donate it.
What happened next is a story worth sharing, he said.
Having made the decision to give the bicycle to the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation so someone could get as much joy out of it as his daughter did, Mr. May first needed to have it repaired, he said.
He took the bicycle to Geiger's Ski and Sport Haus in Chagrin Falls a couple weeks ago, expecting to pay for whatever work was needed, he recalled. He said he explained to the workers there briefly the fact that it belonged to his daughter and then went on his way.
"Not only did they fix the bike, they didn't charge me," Mr. May said. "It was so nice of them to do that. I fully expected to pay like anyone else." Mr. May gave a gift to the young craftsman, Henk Kerkheide, who did the work. He also credited Jim Nelson at the Chagrin Falls store and Gordon Geiger. Mr. May said they will be receiving a letter of thanks from the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation for their gesture.
Mr. May will also remember them in his own way, with a special plaque he is having painted for the back of the bicycle.
"I'm getting a sign painted that says, 'In loving memory of Maureen Ellen May,'" Mr. May said. "That will be in between the two rear tires. There's a basket, and it will hang in there."
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