Paige Hicks, P2S10

Andrew: I guess I haven't even told you that yet. Um... God, that's weird to say that out loud, but, My mom just died. Yeah, that's why I'm home.

Sam: I'm so sorry. God, I'm so sorry... When?

Andrew: Sunday

Sam: Oh my God

Andrew: Why are you crying?

Sam: I don't know. I'm sorry. Because... I'm not usually like this. It's just like... It's just so sad. You know, it's like... It's so tragic, isn't it? It is. It's like... It's like real life tragedy or something.

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This is a scene out of "Garden State", a movie about someone who is completely detached from all of his emotions, Andrew Largeman. He goes home for his mother's funeral and confronts his past. In the scene above, Andrew tells Sam, a girl he just met, why he comes back home. He's quite nonchalant, while Sam bursts into tears.

This particular scene has been running through my head for the past 24 hours, ever since I got an email from Barbara giving Bike and Build alums all the details that she had about Paige Hicks, a leader on this year's Providence to Seattle route who was struck by a vehicle and died on Tuesday.

I did not know Paige, nor have I ever met her. So the fact that I had a difficult time working after reading that email makes me feel a little like Sam in "Garden State."

This past weekend, I had a beautiful 3 days during which 8 of the 29 Bike and Builders of the 2008 Providence to Seattle route got together to go wine tasting on Long Island. Barbara was a gracious host, and her parents' place on the Island also had a pool. We talked about everyone on Bike and Build, what they are up to now, and all the stories that no one ever understands except for us on the trip, such as why we hate Nebraska so much. It has been 2 years since we plunged into the freezing cold Pacific, but it really felt like we had just hopped off our bikes for an interlude on the side of a highway somewhere in the Midwest.

So the memories of Bike and Build are vividly awoken, and it came as a real shock to hear that someone on the very route that I completed died so cruelly young. I know the type of people that do Bike and Build. They dive headfirst into adventure, they are humanitarians, and they perhaps care too much about everything in this world.

All I could think was, one of these people that I continue to be such great friends with, that I spent such a wonderful weekend with, that got me through Nebraska: one of these people could have died.

So, this post is in memory of Paige Hicks. You can read about Paige Hicks here: http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/3495