Can you remember as a child when your bike was the centre of all things awesome? It got you everywhere around town, to your friend’s house, school, the candy store, and the playground. You may have also put some of your allowance into investments to make your bike look the best on the block, with all the latest accessories and gadgets.
Imagine how you would feel if one day someone decided to take that awesomeness away from you?
Well just last week, 7-year-old Vanessa Gaulton of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, had her bike stolen after she had been playing with her friend a few blocks from her home. She had left the bike in panic to rush home and change into some dry clothes after she said she had fallen into a swimming pool and was upset.
“She came home and I dried her off and we went over to get her bike and it was gone, just in the matter of like a half an hour,” said Vanessa’s mom Stephanie Gaulton.
She said her daughter’s bike was given to her last summer as a gift.
When asked about the incident, Vanessa said she felt ‘sad’ and ‘scared.’ She said she didn’t think anyone would ever steal her bike.
Gaulton then said she made a plea over the local Facebook page in which she gave a description of her daughter’s bike, asking residents to keep an eye out for the bike. After a week, she said there was still no sign of the bike.
Over in Labrador West, Oral Burden who happened to be browsing the Facebook page saw the post by Gaulton, and decided he would replace the little girl’s lost bike.
“I tell you one thing you’ve got to do, and remember now,” Burden said when he arrived at Vanessa’s home with a brand new bike.
“The next time you fall in the water, it’s a lot faster to get home on bike than it is to walk,” he said jokingly.
“But it’s not your fault there is some crooks in town is it,” he added.
Burden, who moved back to Happy Valley-Goose Bay from Labrador West with his wife Bernice, stopped by the Gaulton’s residence with the gift.
The Gaultons thanked the Burden’s several times for their kind gesture. “We can’t afford to buy a bike everyday,” said Gaulton.
“I guess sometimes, we as Christian people we’re blessed, but I always said a blessing is not a blessing until you give it away,” Mr. Burden said.
”We’re very thankful that you did that,” said Anthony, Vanessa’s dad.
Bernice Burden said her husband called her to tell her about what he saw on Facebook.
“He said, “I was on the computer and there’s a little girl who lost her bike, a new bike,” said Ms. Burden.
Burden said his daughter’s foster children once went through the same type of ordeal with a stolen bike last year, however, the bike was eventually recovered by his daughter, when she caught the culprit red-handed.
“We’re very thankful that you did that,” said Mr. Gaulton.
“We really appreciate it,” added Ms. Gaulton.
“If I get a strong impulse to do something, I go with, I don’t fight it,” said Burden.
“I truly believe that we are blessed people and a blessing is not a blessing till you give it away to somebody,” he added.
