All About You FRIDAY – Get To

I have a friend who shares a passion for getting kids on bicycles. For years, along with other therapists from Corewell Health, she has helped organize Corewell Children’s Bike Day, a day where over 100 children with special needs are fitted for a no-cost, custom adaptive bicycle.

“Do you think you can come and help us assemble some bikes?” she asked me last year, a week before the big event.

It took me only a second to make the decision. I was coming off an 11-hour day, but the thought of getting my hands on some tools and wrenching on some bikes energized me. Weird, I know. There were three other “mechanics” surrounded by boxes of bikes that needed to be assembled. It was a seemingly daunting task.

I’ve loved tools ever since I was a kid. Whenever I earned a little bit of cash, I would ask my mom to take me to the local hardware store. I would peruse the aisles with wonder. First the plumbing section, then the automotive section and onto the power tools. I would choose a tool that I could afford: a different kind of screwdriver or a wrench. Sometimes, I wasn’t even sure what they were used for, but I cherished each one. I stored them in a metal tool box that my mom bought me.

So, every time I get to use a tool, it isn’t work. If I ever retire, I think I’ll be come a task rabbit. I would make myself available to assemble whatever people needed. In addition to bikes, I am an expert at IKEA furniture. I’d probably do it for free.

I helped make a little dent in their work that night, assembling 1.5 bikes. But we ran out of time before we finished, leaving a lot of work for the lead therapist, Ryan, to finish.

“I was wondering if any of the Free Bikes 4 Kids mechanics would like to help us assemble the new bikes this year?” my friend asked. Brilliant idea.

We put the word out and six mechanics immediately volunteered. On the day of assembly, twelve showed up. They were told to bring their own tools, and did they ever! Some rolled in with modular toolboxes filled with every kind of tool you would need to assemble a bike (or anything for that matter). I admit to having some toolbox envy.

Not only did they bring tools and skills, they brought smiles. And in less than two hours, we assembled 26 adaptive cycles. It was a thing of beauty.

“Why didn’t we think of this last year?!” I asked my friend.

“Because I thought people would think it was work,” she replied.

When you do something you love, it isn’t a have to. It’s a Get To.

In 2006, 16-year old Ben Jones was asked by his football coach to get the team fired up before the first game of his JV football season. He walks up to the board and writes G-E-T T-O on the board. It would became his motto for life.

Ben would go on to play football for Hillsdale College and graduated in 2013 with his Bachelor of Science in Financial Management and a minor in Mathematics. His love of football evolved from playing to coaching, first acting as assistant coach and then in 2019, being appointed head varsity football coach for Cranbrook Kingswood in Bloomfield Hills, MI, where he went on to lead his team to the playoffs.

On August 19, 2020, Ben was tragically killed by a drunk driver while driving home from work. He was only 30 years old. But his legacy lives on through the Get To Foundation.

I saw a patient wearing this t-shirt this week. That’s how I learned about Ben. But it reminded me of how someone’s “have to” is another person’s “get to”.

Opportunity lies in challenge. We don’t have to do things, we get to do things. And what is a challenge for some, is a natural talent of another. Together, we push this world forward.

It’s been a long week, don’t forget to celebrate.

Until next time…