ALONG THE WAY BACK

CHAPTER 10...MORE REHAB & MORE SUCCESS !

2010-02-07T04:26:00.006-06:00

It has been a while since I had an opportunity to sit down and continue with my story of my journey.."ALONG THE WAY BACK"... to my present day life. In my last chapter I told you about my surgeries ahead of me as well as some of the injuries that I had sustained. I left off with the fact that I was still considered legally blind in both eyes. This brings me to one of my most painful surgeries. I had to have eye surgery on both eyes. Both eyes had detached retinas and both had several cuts, both to the eyelids, as well as cuts on the pupil of both eyes. My right eye had been almost torn out and the orbit that it sits in, had to be reshaped in order to set my eye back in place. Not to make this story any longer than it has to be, I eneded up having 3 surgeries on my right eye and 2 surgeries on my left eye...all back to back! I regained sight in my left eye but lost not only the sight in my right eye, but also I lost control of movement in that eye. This condition left me with the appearance of being cross eyed. Later, I would learn just how much this would impact my life.

After these surgeries, I vividly recall a conversation that took place with the 3 most important people in my life, at that time. My Mother, my Doctor and our Attorney. All 3 of them had gotten together in my hospital room. This meeting took place in hospital number 4, after surgery number 16 and just before the start of 18 months of physical therapy, speech therapy, social and psychological therapy. In this conversation, I remember our attornry, speaking on behalf of both my family and myself, that all future surgeries that were being discussed, for reconstructive and plastic surgery for my face, both arms, my right shoulder and my torso, were not life threatning and would be put off indefinitly, until either I or my family made that decision to perform those surgeries. It was felt that for what I had been through and survived, the fact that I was scarred and had some disfigurement was something that I could live with for now and possibly the rest of my life.

I remember hearing my Mother cry and saying to the doctor..."No more, PLEASE no more surgeries. I can't take another one and my son neesds to come home!" When I realized this was my last surgery, I thought I would be well in a few days, get up and walk out of that hospital. NOTHING could have been further from the truth!

More to follow ...

CHAPTER 9....REHAB !

2009-12-05T00:34:00.004-06:00

As I mentioned in my last chapter, I was now able to talk a little. I had some power to use the two words of 'yes' and 'no' to let people know things. As I took in all the things going on around me, I could not help but feel very much alone, in this crowd of people. I knew no one. I remembered no one. I had no feelings for anyone.

Things went fast for me at this point. I remember the doctors coming in and telling my family what was wrong with me, what operations I would need and how long all this could possibly take. Their main concerns were 4 major injuries. I had a plate in my head and they were concerned about the frequency of seizures. I had received a severe injury to my right shoulder and the entire deltoid muscle had been ripped away, along with the rotator cuff and it would need extensive surgery. My right forearm and left wrist had been crushed and they were considering taking off my forearm just below the elbow and fusing my left wrist in place. Last but certainly not least, I was blind. My face shield on my helmet had shattered and all of the debris went into both eyes. In one eye the optic nerve had been severed and in the other there was a lot of debris and fragments embedded in my eye along with a detached retina.

All of these issues were discussed in my presence, with my family members, the family attorney and a private investigator, who would be going over my case. At the time all of this meant nothing to me because although I heard the words that were spoken, I had no sense of what they meant. I cannot tell you if days or weeks went by before my first surgery as I had no way to tell time. I can say that as they progressed, a total of 16 operations in 4 different hospitals, a member of my family was always there. Some of the major ones were plastic and reconstructive surgery on my face to realign my face. Metal rods implanted in my forearm. Plastic rotator cuff implanted in my shoulder. Removal of my ruptured spleen and part of my Colon. Implant in my left wrist to promote the use of my fingers again. These are just a few of the major ones that caused me the most pain.

This is also where it gets difficult. As I was told over and over again that this person was my Father or my Mother or my Sister, I was always sad to hear them speak of 'this other person' who they said was me! How large I was because I had been a bodybuilder for so many years or how much energy I always seem to have or how many things I had accomplished in my life. Many times pictures were shown to me of me doing different things and so called 'friends' from my past were brought in to see me. I knew no one and I knew nothing of my past! It also didn't help that I saw mostly in blacks and greys. More about that later.

My surgeries however took a toll on me. As I progressed with my surgeries, my vocabulary increased. I was now speaking very slowly but I was speaking. I had nurses and doctors that evaluated my progress and I understand that sometime around my 12th or 14th surgery, it was determined that I was an amnesiac and that my mind had regressed to that of a 7 year old child. Additionally, I also would need speech therapy, would need to learn how to walk again, how to write, learn braille, because up to that point, no eye surgeries had been done yet and no one in my family had made a decision to permit the surgeries. Keep in my, I was 'legally' blind by normal standards. My range of vision prior to any surgery only allowed me to see blacks and greys and some shapes. Still, this didn't deter my family from bringing people in to see me or from them trying to show me pictures. As my Mom put it, she was always hopeful that one day, the RIGHT picture or person would cause me to remember and 'literally' see the light of day.

More Rehab to follow...

Chapter 8, Learning to Speak

2009-11-01T09:55:00.006-06:00

As I mentioned in my last chapter, I was very afraid and felt helpless and vulnerable to everyone around me. I can't explain why I felt this way, only that it was an overwhelming feeling that made me feel like I wanted to crawl into a deep hole and hide from everyone. The nurses and my family were still all around me and were talking to me about so many different things that it all made no sense to me.

So it began. As I began to focus on what was around me, there were 3 things that amazed me. First, how tall everyone looked next to me. They seemed like giants and it was quite intimidating. It didn't register that all these people were 'standing' next to my bed and that I was actually 'laying down'. Second, how fast they were able to speak. Their words came fast and seemed unrecognizable to me, as I struggled to understand anything they were saying. Third, I was amazed at how fast and how easy they could move around the room. It seemed no effort at all was involved in their movements. Walking back and forth from one side of the room to the next, moving an arm or turning their heads, leaning close to me and then with no effort at all, able to lean back. Use of their hands and fingers to hold things and grab the bed, with no sense of pain or effort on their part. This all seemed amazing to me, since the slightest effort to turn my head, open my eyes or even try to lift a finger, took so much effort and always caused me so much pain. Also it was odd to me the way these people looked. As I looked down at my body, still wrapped in cast and bandages and still with wires and tubes coming from me, I wondered why these other people did not have the same things on them.

I remember being told over and over that my name was Rico and that I had been hurt badly on my motorcycle. The nurse asked me over and over if I remembered this. I remember looking at her as she moved her head from side to side or up and down. Her words had no meaning but it was her actions that drew my attention. As her head went side to side she pointed to her mouth and slowly said the word 'no' ! She drew it out as she said it and kept pointing to her mouth. When she moved her head up and down, she also pointed to her mouth and said the word 'yes' very slowly and drawn out. Next she picked up my hand and held a finger and then she took what looked like a small pin and stuck the end of my finger. As she did this, she looked at me, nodded her head up and down and asked if it hurt. As I sruggled to pull my finger away, she kept saying the same word 'yes' and nodding her head. I got the message. I let out a very slow and mournful 'YES', imitating her as best I could. It worked and she stopped poking my finger. Next, she rubbed my same hand and held it and kept it warm in her hand. "Does this hurt ?" She again said the word 'no' slowly and pointed to her mouth. I caught on much quicker this time and again I imitated her and very slowly, with no mournful wail this time, said the word 'no' !

My first two words since I had been run over, had now been spoken. These words were important to me because in my mind, thes two words now gave me a way to tell people when I was in pain and when I was not. More to follow!

CHAPTER 7, COMING OUT OF THE COMA

2009-10-18T18:16:00.008-05:00

As I wrote in chapter 6, when in a coma (at least in my case) you are aware of everything around you, even if you cannot understand all that is being said or done around you. In my case certain things come to mind that puzzled me when they were happening. Like when the nurses kept asking me how I felt today and did I sleep well. All the time I was asked these questions, they were always lifting my feet and scraping the bottom of them in some manner. I was not able, no, let me rephrase that. I didn't "want" to answer them because over time I had come to realize that if I did nothing and responded to nothing, I was removed from my bed, washed, placed back in my bed and left alone until more people came to see me. I had no idea of time and since my eyes were always shut, I only remember different shades of gray and black in my vision.

I also remember that I had many "attachments" to my body. I did not know at the time that they were tubes and different monitors for my vital signs. I only knew they were there and they did not bother me. I also remember that many people came to see me. I was told over and over that these people were my relatives. Again and again I would hear talk of who I was and who loved me and who was praying for me. I heard laughter at times and more often than not, I also heard a lot of crying. I often felt hands on the few exposed parts of my upper torso. This was very limited to just my fingertips on one hand and a portion of my left shoulder. Apparently I was still severely disfigured and had already lost nearly half of my body weight. My doctors had not done any reconstructive or plastic surgery on me yet because it was unknown when or if I would come out of my coma, so early on, I had been transferred to a coma center where I remained for the next 9 months.

This brings me to the title of this chapter. It had been exactly 9 months and 4 days that I had been in that coma. Everyday some member of my family had been there to see me. On this particular day I remember the person that they always called my sister, was very upset this day. She had been the first to arrive that day and she was full of memories of how when growing up I had always protected her and had taken everywhere with me. I remember her being so close to me that I could feel her breath on me. I also felt her holding the bed and as she became louder and more agitated she shook my bed rails very, very hard ! I remember feeling a sharp pain and as I opened my eyes to look.....I saw her staring right at me ! Quickly, I closed my eyes and turned my head away, just as I saw her running out of my room. Too late! The damage was done ! Rushing back in the room, I heard my sister and at least 2 nurses coming towards me. "He opened his eyes " !! She kept screaming this and they kept asking me to open my eyes. The nurses were trying to ask me as calmly when I heard my sister pushed the closest one away and said.."I want my brother back" and then slapped me hard across my face! My eyes flew open and stayed open. I remember the brightness hurt me for a few minutes and I also remember the nurses saying something about getting tubes out of me. The pain of my first breath after the tubes came out of my chest is one to this day I will never forget. The burning feeling in my throat and lungs from my first breath on my own and of feeling so vulnerable and helpless.....More to follow!

CHAPTER 6: THE AMNESIA COMA

2009-10-01T17:50:00.008-05:00

It has been a while since my last entry and I apologize to my readers for this. My job has been very busy with long hours that has left me exhausted at night and unable to write. Having said that, lets continue.

I had just slipped into a coma and with that, a state of unconsciousness. To any observer, it appears that when this happens a person is in a "sleep like" state. They are unaware of anything around them because in all appearances, you seem to be asleep. In my case and I cannot speak for others but this was not true ! I willingly went into this coma for two reasons. One, I wanted to close out my physical surroundings because I did not recognize anything around me and two, it was a way to lessen my movements in trying to get away from that terrible pain I was in.

I quickly put it together that all these people around my body were doing all they could to lessen my pain. So, I just "gave in"and let them work on my body. As this was happening, something else was going on. Something on the memory side of me and something on the "awareness" side of me. Almost in the same moment that I succumb to the coma, all the answers to all my questions that I had, when I was in the spirit world, were now lost. I felt very drained and empty of knowledge. Everything regarding my family, friends, who I was, such as my name and age, how I had gotten there in this room and who all these people were. All of this was rapidly draining from me, until it got to the point that some of the things that I overheard, made no sense to me. Yes, I said overheard. I say this because this was the "second" thing that was going on. I was becoming very much aware of things that I heard around me.

I thought to myself, this must be my price to pay for being allowed to come back to this body. This thought made me sad and I wanted to cry or show some kind of emotion, but I didn't know how. However since my pain was slowly going away, I did not pursue this thought. I thought instead that there must be a reason for all this and maybe later I would find out. With my memory rapidly leaving me, I had nothing to draw on for a point of reference, for all the things I was hearing. I heard people speak of my condition. I had a depressed skull fracture, two broken arms that were severely crushed, one of which they were considering amputating at the elbow and a severely crushed wrist that they had just inserted with nails to hold my hand in place, a crushed shoulder, detached retinas in both eyes with numerous pieces of plastic debris from my helmet still embedded in both eyes, a ruptured spleen, a torn colon, a crushed kidney, 5 broken ribs, a broken jaw, numerous deep lacerations about my face that definitely would need plastic surgery and severe abrasions to my upper body. Hearing all of this , had no impact on me because I did not know what any of this meant.

I remained in a comatose state for what I later found out to be nearly 9 months. Only necessary surgery to keep me alive had been done on me. I found out later there were two reasons for this. One was because there was a lawsuit involved and my case was still pending and the second reason was because no one knew if or when I was going to come out of the coma. So all this time was the "lets just wait and see what happens" part of my recovery.

I had gone from a weight of 275 pounds of muscle to just over 145 lbs of skin and bones. But I was alive. I want to make a point here. In my case, there were many times I could of come out of my coma. Without having a sense of time, you are not aware of how long you are in it. You DO know it is NOT painful and ALL of your needs are cared for. No need to "get up" to do anything ! You are fed, bathed, clothed, medicated and all of your bodily functions are "taken care of by nurses" . So, having amnesia and nothing to "remember", all you do is listen to all that is around you. And in my case there was only one thing that brought me out of my coma.

More to follow...

CHAPTER 5: The I.C.U. Ward

2009-09-12T00:24:00.003-05:00

I don't remember how much time passed, to transport me from the accident site to the hospital but I do remember that I was in an extreme amount of pain and that I was "unhappy" to be back in this body again. By back, I mean I clearly could tell that there was a definite "spirit" to my body and it had remained untouched and unhurt by all that had happened. I also knew I was losing the connection, that we were one and the same and as I look back now I remember drawing the conclusion that as long as I stayed in that "body", confusion, pain, loud noises and a distinct failure for anyone to hear me, was all I could look forward too.

I remember going into a room that was very bright and it seemed as though I was being cut up. I also remember feeling as though parts of me were being "cut away" some how. In fact, it was my clothing that was being cut away. I just didn't know it then because I could not see anything but blackness and sometimes vivid red and also because I could feel myself being lifted and pulled. Sometimes when this happened, it caused extreme pain! As I lay there, I realized that as the pain got worse, the room seem to be getting quieter. Finally, I could hear no sound and like before, all my pain stopped in an instant. It was then that I raced up towards this light again in what appeared to be a smaller tunnel. This time however, I did not go nearly as high and in another instant, the sound from the room came back and I was there looking down at "me" on the table. This time I knew it was me and it did not bother me. What did bother me was that all these people around me were so concerned and so upset. These people kept repeating.."We're losing him! We're losing him!" I wanted to answer them and tell them they had lost no one and that I was only "out of my body" because it hurt to much. I never once thought of death or dying in any way.

It was then that I saw this man far from me. He was near the light and as I looked towards him, I also seem to move towards him. When I got to his side, I noticed two things that seem perfectly natural to me. One, was that now I was in a long brown robe and two, I looked and felt as though I was in the best shape of my life. The man next to me was slightly taller than me, had dark brown shoulder length hair with a beard and he also was wearing a robe. I noticed his robe was also belted at the waist with a rope like mine. I also noticed his was white. I felt very guilty when I was near this man. As we stood there I was aware that every event in my life was forming in a picture ( like a video) right in front of us. ALL of my events from childbirth to present day were unfolding in front of us. It was humbling to know that lies, deceit, acts of violence or hate, along with kind acts or moments where I helped people, were being shown right before us. Humbling as this was, this man did not hold disdain or hatred towards me but seem to be glad that I was sorry for what I had done. It was at this point that he had me look towards the cliffs again. As I did and focused my eyes downward, I saw what appeared to be a long black line on the valley floor, leading to a river. In fact this line was actually thousands upon thousands of very old women all dressed in black and covered almost entirely from head to foot, with only there eyes showing. Each woman carried a newborn infant. As the women approached this river, they would place each infant at the edge of the riverbank. As soon as they did, each infant would rocket from the riverbank in a bright flash and disappear in a few moments. However, some infants did not make it. There were some that as soon as they would attempt to rocket away from the riverbank, a very dark almost black "haze or spirit" would grab it and both would disappear in a small ball of flame.

"You have much to do and I know you want to stay with me but it is not your time yet"! This was what this man said to me, as now we both looked at down at me on the table. I did not want to go back because I knew the pain would be almost unbearable. But I did go back and it was then I could hear the doctors say.."We got him back!" They were shouting at me and asking my name. As I told them my name and realized how much of an effort it took just to remember it, form the words and then finally say it, I knew this was going to be the first and last thing I would say for quite a while. It was then that I slipped into a coma.

To this day I do not know the reason I was shown the people climbing from the cliffs or why I was shown the women leading the newborn infants to that river. I do know that over all these years, I have never forgotten what I am telling you here and now. I believe there is a reason for everything but sometimes the reason is not always clear.

More to follow !

CHAPTER 4: The Cliffs,The Body Bag and D.O.A.

2009-09-06T18:58:00.007-05:00

I want to go back for just a moment here. As I mentioned before, I clearly remember starting out that morning on my way back up the coast. What has not become clear to this day, is how long was I riding before I was hit and what lead up to my being run over. Perhaps this will always remain a mystery and in some ways, a safeguard against what may be to painful to remember.

OK. Let's pick up from the view in the tunnel and what I saw when I looked down. If I did not mention it before, I need to tell you that all I was seeing, happened in total silence. Not a sound.

Smoke billowed from the exhaust pipes of the semi as he pulled away and red flashing lights on emergency vehicles and police cruisers flashed as they all converged on this man bleeding on the highway. It was then that I looked away and back towards that bright light. I did this because I felt myself moving upward again. The movement was there but definitely much slower than when I was first in the tunnel. Then a moment later I was out of the tunnel but not quite at the source of the light. In the distance I could make out what appeared to be a city of some kind. I was raised a Catholic but I am not, and at that time was not, a very religious man. So I will not say it was heaven because I never thought of heaven at that time. I do remember that I felt a presence next to me and as soon as I did, I remember a feeling like taking a deep breath of air after holding your breath for as long as you could! I got this feeling because all of a sudden I had answers to ALL the questions I had ever asked! And I mean ALL of them! Let me explain. All the questions I had asked as a child, a teenager and even as a young adult, up to that day and up to that incicdent, I now felt very confident that I knew the answers. Yes, I realize now that must of been thousands but numbers didn't matter then. I was content.

It is hard to put into words but I will try. It was the same feeling you get when you are listening to someone ask you a question and before they can even finish the question, you know the answer. As I drank in that moment, I remember looking around me. To my left and also off in the distance there were cliffs that seemed to come from down below from where I was. I did not get the feeling I was standing on anything but rather that I was just "there" in that space. As I looked closer at the cliffs, I could make out human forms climbing up the cliffs. The people climbing up were scorched and burned but not so that they were unrecognizable but instead as if they were badly blistered. I also noticed these cliffs were all along the edge of a deep pit. I could not see to the bottom of it, but I could make out that it was very deep. At the top of the cliffs there were large gold buckets that had what appeared to be crushed ice in them. This is what each person what trying to get. I watched this unfold and as each person got to the top of the cliff, stood up, poured the bucket of ice over their body, a very bright emerald green snake head would eat them. In a matter of a few bites and without blood or flesh being torn or anything gory, the person would just disappear and the bucket would fall back to the ground, fill with ice again and the snake head would slid back in and disappear inside it. This was repeated over and over all along the cliffs.

It was then that I heard a voice for the first time. It was the voice of a man and as I turned toward this voice I clearly heard him say, "This is not your fate. You have more to do and many to help". It was then that I looked back down and realized all that had happened. I realized at that moment, at that time, that there were 2 life forces within me. My body was one and my spirit was the other. It was my spirit that was there in that place. My body was the man below and I needed, no, had to go back. As I continued to look at the man that had been pronounced dead on arrival (D.O.A.), covered up and zipped up in a body bag beside the road, I heard something. A Minister and his wife had also stopped to see what had happened and had come to my body to ask the Lord not to take this young man and please bring him back. As he prayed, he reached his hands out to touch the bag I was in. That was all we needed to hear. I remember rushing back so quickly again down through this tunnel and the TREMENDOUS pain I felt as I came back inside my body. The noise, the pain, the shouting from the Minister telling them I was alive and the rush of people coming towards me. Through all this, I was astonished that no one could hear me when I said.."I'm OK, I'm going to be fine, if you can just make me stop hurting so much"!
More to follow!

CHAPTER 3: Up through The Tunnel

2009-09-04T22:42:00.011-05:00

As I raced through this tunnel in silence I realized everything had stopped. I mean everything! No more pain, no noise, no heat, no blinding red color in front of me and not even that tremendous pressure of a weight on me! Nothing but silence and this bright white light, that was such a vivid white, that I felt it was just instinct to go towards it. Looking back I remember how odd this was because for some reason, as bright as it was, it was not blinding and did not make me blink or want to shield my eyes in any way.

What I remember next was that my ascent upward had stopped and I had an urge to look back from where I was in this tunnel. It's hard to judge distance as to how far away I was because at my first glance downward, everything appeared to be very small, but as I focused, I was able to "reel in" the picture and see with great detail everything that was there. I saw a large red area on a patch of highway( later I realized it was blood) of what looked like a giant red "patch" on the ground and in the middle of it was a person, but I could not recognize them because this person was badly "torn open" and you could see bare flesh and bone all along the upper part of the body and from the head area a large "crack" was in what looked to be a helmet and where the visor had been it was now completely red and I could see bits of what looked like large slivers of glass ( I found out later these "slivers" were actually the plastic from my visor that had broken up and went into my eyes and forehead.) and blood was streaming from this crack in the helmet and pooling out onto the street.

Parked on the side of the road and running, was a large semi tractor trailer rig and the driver got out and ran over to look at this person. I remember he did not come to close. Then he looked over at the mangled motorcycle laying off to the side of the road. After shaking his head he walked back to his truck. I remember watching him look at certain spots on his trailer and follow a trail of some kind along the side of the trailer back to his rear tires and look again and again at one spot on the trailer. As traffic began to gather, he got back in his truck and as people approached him and pointed to the person in the road, he drove off! I would learn much later, the significance of his actions or should I say "lack" of action and how much it would impact my life for years to come. During this time, I had not put it together yet, but this person was the person who had literally just "run over' the person laying on the highway! Through all this, I remember wondering who was this severely mangled and badly injured person on the highway and why was I watching them? It could not have been me because I was up here looking back? That question and many more were about to be answered!
More to follow.

CHAPTER 2 : The Day It All Started

2009-08-23T14:12:00.006-05:00

It was a warm summer day in July. I was suppose to still be in Hawaii because I was visiting friends there. Instead, I had flown back to the mainland, to San Francisco and purchased another motorcycle. I loved motorcycles and had been riding since I was a teenager. My plan was to purchase the big Harley Davidson, ride it for about a week to get the feel of it and then have it shipped over to Hawaii. So here I was on a Sunday morning, having spent Friday afternoon enjoying a drive down the coast from San Francisco to Santa Cruz beach. I wanted to get an early start Sunday morning back up the coast because I knew from experience that there was always a lot of traffic in the summer on that road. I also knew that it was a road that had many curves and switchbacks and there were always wrecks because a lot people loved to speed on that road. For me and anyone who had a motorcycle, it was a great road and I loved it!

This is where the story starts to get interesting because this is where I have what I call a scar in my memory. I clearly remember riding out that morning, with all new riding gear. Riding suit, boots, gloves and my prize possession, my new Shoei helmet. The next clear memory I have was seeing so much red in front of me and feeling so much heat that I felt I was cooking in my suit.. I also remember a deafening sound that built up to a tremendous roar. Next, I had the feeling I was being squeezed and also the feeling of sliding in fluid, all at the same time. Then the pressure of a huge weight on me. It was then I think that my instincts kicked in. I was a big guy in those days. I had been a bodybuilder for years and was well over 250 lbs of solid muscle. So in my mind I knew, or I thought I knew, all I had to do to "get out of this situation" was to tense my muscles and fight back! When I did this and attempted to break free, I clearly remember everything stopping in an instant and a feeling of me moving upward and away from everything very quickly, through what appeared to be a type of tunnel and rushing in total silence towards a very bright light. More to follow.

CHAPTER 1: A Little History...To Get Current!

2009-08-16T16:21:00.004-05:00

My name is Rico and I am a happily married man who didn't just happen to marry a French born and raised woman. We actually met via the Internet some months before we actually met in Paris. I was going on vacation and was convinced to come to Paris to meet her face to face. For me it was love at first sight. I say this because in my heart and in my eyes, she was and still remains the most beautiful, talented, sexy, outspoken, remarkable woman I have ever met. I won't go into all the details that followed our meeting but after making 10 hour plus flights across the Atlantic a few times to see each other, we both knew it was time to settle down. That was almost 3 years ago. It took 2 years to complete all the paperwork for Immigration and Customs to make it legal for us to marry but we did it and earlier this month we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

We settled in the four season state of Kansas, where I had been living just before we met and in the summer we both take advantage of the back roads and rolling country hillsides and go out riding. My Kawasaki that I bought just before we met has been converted to enjoy 2 up riding and so with matching helmets and riding gear we enjoy our weekends riding through the countryside. But it wasn't always this way for either of us. There were challenges and huge obstacles to overcome, ALONG THE WAY BACK , to get to this level of comfort again. More to follow.