Everything happens for a reason.

We need to start before my twelfth birthday to see the beginning of my philosophy of life. When I was a kid I lived in a neighborhood where the thing to do was race bikes. Everyday from the beginning of spring until the end of the summer we would all gather at Brian Jackson's house for a full day of competition. I, Brian, Terry and Brian Riley, and Jon Lutz were warriors. Brian Jackson and Jon had Schwinn ten speeds, the Ferrari of bicycles in the early 80's. The Riley's traded one ten speed back and fourth. I on the other hand had a Huffy Wrangler. By far the worst bike ever made. It was brown with a banana seat, one gear, no handle brakes; you had to back up to stop. This proved to be quite a challenge. The terrible bike coupled with a lack of athletic ability made for many a last place finish for old Bowers. Sometimes I would beat Brian Riley but he was 3 years younger than me so that wasn't much of an accomplishment.

That was all about to change on my twelfth birthday. I was about to get the best bike ever made, the Huffy Wind Sprint. It was the first 12 speed bike ever made and in 1985 it cost a whopping $150.00. It was all that I had asked for my birthday and my parents had promised to get it for me. I was up before dawn that day. I was born at 6am so I've always thought, that is when I could officially start my birthday. I ran downstairs and sure enough a fire engine red Wind Sprint was waiting for me.

I got to Brian Jackson's house about 9am that day. I had to wake all of my friends up, but I was excited. It was a banner day for me. By noon I had won 11 races which were 11 more than I had ever one before with the Wrangler. My constant blaming of the Wrangler as the reason I couldn't win was ringing true more than I had dreamed. When we stopped racing at 5pm I had won 21 races and came in second twice when the Brians ganged up on me and Jon was able to eek out a victory.

I went home washed the Wind sprint and put it away in the garage. I went to bed after eating some cake, feeling better about myself than I ever had in my young life. The next morning I woke up to find the garage door open and my beloved Wind Sprint…GONE! Apparently, my dad had gone out to feed the cat and accidentally opened the garage door instead of turning on the light. The story differs a bit from there. I always remembered that my mom and dad couldn't afford another $150 for a Wind Sprint. They claim that they offered but I would just cry and say I wanted MY bike. Somehow I believe them. Regardless, the outcome was, no Wind Sprint. Instead, we had enough insurance money after the deductible to get a regular old Huffy ten speed. It was better than the Wrangler but I never cared about it, like I did my Wind Sprint. Well, at the end of that summer bike racing was replaced with chasing girls and the Huffy ten speed became just a means of transportation.

We need to now fast forward a little less than four years. It was a month before my sixteenth birthday and the freedom of a driver's license. The Huffy was in complete disrepair. It had no brakes, a rusted chain, and the gear cables had broken leaving me with one gear, 10th, the hardest. It was a hot June day when my mom uttered the words that every fifteen year old a month from their license dreads. "Chris, will you ride your bike to the store and buy me a gallon of milk?" She said like it was no big deal. The store was less than a mile from my house an easy ride. But, no ride is easy when you're trying not to let anyone see you. I had spent my entire sophomore year trying to avoid the ridicule of being seen on my Huffy. The only thing worse would have been being one of those kids who at 14 negotiated a moped but after two years of being the coolest kid around realized to their horror that at 16 there would be no car, after all they had a perfectly good moped. Riding a bike to the store for a gallon of milk at 15 and 11 months is bad, but a moped at 18 is a whole other level.

So, I swallowed my pride, after calling everyone I ever met with a driver's license for a ride, and jumped on the Huffy. It was a quick trip down Elks road with only one big intersection, I-40, a four lane highway through the center of my town. But, it had a light at Elks so it was no big deal to cross. The trip there was uneventful without seeing anyone I knew. I got the milk and headed home. The light at Elks was red. In my haste to get home undetected I decided to ignore the red light. I looked right, then looked left and started through it. I was across the first two lanes when I heard it. The blare of a semi's horn. Two long loud blasts that sounded really close. I looked to my right and a semi was about 50, 40, 30, feet from me. His brakes were locked up but it was obvious that he wasn't going to get the rig stopped in time. I knew that was it. I was dead. I'd had a descent life, sure I'd never been in love, or a sports star, but I had won 21 races on my twelfth birthday. I don't remember dropping the milk, just peddling, as hard as I could, but 10th gear was fighting with my legs. I wasn't going to make it! There was another blast of the horn; my 15 year old legs were pumping with all of their might. Out of nowhere the Huffy suddenly switched into 1st gear. With that change my legs had the needed power to shoot me across the intersection to safety. I heard the milk gallon pop as the semi crushed it under its wheels. I was still close enough that milk splattered on my back. Once I was across the intersection the Huffy switched back into 10th gear. It had never changed gears before and it never did it again.

It was at that moment that I realized that there was something bigger than me affecting the way my life was going to work out. More importantly I realized that I had some sort of destiny. That I was meant for something, and it wasn't to die at 15. I also realized the chain of events that had to be in place for me not to be squashed. If my Wind Sprint hadn't have been stolen when I was twelve I would had a bike that worked because I would have taken care of it. If my bike was in working order I would have wasted valuable seconds trying to switch gears and wouldn't have made it. So, a tragedy that happened when I was 12 saved me when I was 15. Once I started looking at life as a device to steer me towards my destiny and started listening to the directions it was giving me things became a lot clearer. The idea that every decision I've ever made in my life has led me to the upper concourse outside of Gate G in the Detroit airport writing this is pretty powerful. I realize now that my life had to happen the way that it did to teach me the lessons that it has. If I would have been a football star in middle school or homecoming king in high school, or been able to have one date with Angie Anderson, or Kristen Alter would I be the same person I am today? Would I have empathy for all people? Would I have the same need to include everyone? Would I be happy not being a football star now? If my mom wouldn't have needed milk or one of my friends would have been home that June day and I wouldn't have come so close to death at 15 would I have learned of destiny so young in life? The answer is no, those things had to happen. I realize now that there are no accidents and that I can't get upset because life's plan doesn't always match up with mine. When my parents got divorced I thought it was the worst thing that could happen to me. 16 years later I realize that both my parents are happier and I'm closer to my dad than I ever would have been if he'd have lived at home and taken me for granted. Once he left he tried hard to be part of my life, without the divorce I don't think that would have happened. There have been many times in my life when I was sure I knew the answer and when things didn't go the way I had hoped, I cursed the universe. But in every case, given some time, I've realized that life knew what was good for me even when I didn't.