A Bridge, A Bike, and President Truman
Imagine meeting a former president while taking a break from a bike ride. Sounds surreal, right? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me. When I was around 6 to 8 years old, in the mid-1960s, I lived in Independence, MO, just a few blocks west of the Truman Library. One particularly hot day, with the sun blazing and the cicadas buzzing, I was riding my bike and decided to rest in the shade under the 24 Highway bridge near the library. To my surprise, President Harry S. Truman himself walked by. We had a brief conversation, though I don’t remember the details. It was one of those moments that felt surreal, almost like a scene from a movie. Meeting a former president while taking a break from a bike ride is not something many people can say they’ve experienced. The funny thing is, at that time, I had absolutely no idea who I was walking with or talking to. Can you believe that? Another reason I often found myself under that bridge was because I had discovered a cafeteria at ...