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Today is the 4th of July. About 9 this morning 20 of us went over to the VA Hospital on our bikes. We were giving rides to disabled Veterans. The VA is right next to Woods National Cemetery, so we had a nice tranquil spot to give slow, gentle rides. I had to be choosy as I had one of the smaller bikes there, but still gave plenty of rides. We were supposed to be there from 9-11. At noon, we stopped and ate lunch with them, then went for gas and came back to give more rides. Many of these folks had never been on a bike before. Several rode on many various bikes, taking ride after ride. Around 3 o'clock a new arrival showed up. He had just heard about the rides and wanted one. John is in his eighties, and is dying of cancer. He knows he'll be dead in 6 months. He's never ridden on a bike before and wanted to before he died. It was obvious John had at one time been a bear of a man, but the disease was eating away at him. I got him on the back of my bike and headed off. About halfway through the ride he tapped me on the shoulder and said he wanted to go fast. Really fast. I thought about it for a minute. He was still able to hold on strong. Woods is right next to I94. I told him to hold on and give me a good squeeze when I was going fast enough. I hit the freeway and stayed in the right lane at 45. No squeeze. I nudged it up to 55. No squeeze. 65. No squeeze. 70. John then proceeded to scare the hell of me by letting go entirely. As I glanced over my shoulder he had thrown his arms in the air and had a look of pure bliss on his face. Then I ran the speedtrap and saw the cherries come on behind me. The deputy pulled me over. I explained the situation. He took my liscence back to his squad without a word. I have a perfect driving record. He came back, handed me my liscense and said "follow me". He pulled into traffic in his squad and when I dropped in behind him hew turned on the lights and siren and led us to the next exit. We turned around and headed back East. He gave us an escort all the way back to the staging area at the Hospital - at the speed limit of course! I wish I could have seen the look on John's face as we pulled in with our Police Escort. He was crying as he climbed off the bike; so was I. He hugged me tightly and I hugged him back. He thanked me and I thanked him and I think we were both changed by what happened today. All in all the 20 of us gave over 400 rides today. It has been the best 4th of July of my life. I hope you are all having a wonderful 4th to!