As we start 2023, as the new legislature comes to the Capitol with nearly 50% of its members being first-time legislators, much excitement awaits them. It gave me pause to reflect on some of the new beginnings I’ve had over my life, of which a few rise to the top.

I can still picture her gracefully stepping out of the back seat of the long car she rode in, with a smile as radiant as the day’s sun. My wife is even more beautiful today than the day we began our new life together more than 32 years ago. So much of life since then has been possible only because of her. That new day can be summed up as getting the perfect wife for me.

Then five years later in the delivery room, the nurse held our just born son, having received him from the doctor. She looked at him and proclaimed, “he is so beautiful . . . he doesn’t look like either one of you.” In recovery, my wife and I both wondered if the nurse understood the change in meaning her mid-sentence pause gave to her first four words. We still laugh about it today.

He is our only child, so we only have one new experience in delivery. But he has given us countless new experiences over his 27 years. Most recently, helping move him to, and then visiting him in, Italy at graduate school. As he is at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), for a master’s in international relations, we may have many more international experiences ahead of us as he charts his career! As my wife and I drove home this past Sunday from dropping off our son for his return flight to Bologna after his three-week holiday visit, it occurred to me. The perfect wife for me was also the perfect mom for him.

Speaking of Italy, since beginning the sport of road cycling six years ago, I recently graduated from my initial road bike by adding two from Italy. Some may question why cyclists add bikes instead of replacing them. It has to do with a historical and complicated mathematical equation in cycling: n+1. The formula represents the number of bikes a cyclist needs. “N” equals the current number of bikes owned and the “+1” means we always need another one. A clever way to build in new bike experiences.

While nothing will ever match my wedding day, or the day our son was born, in the more routine experiences of life, getting my second Italian road bike and putting it through its paces for the first time was incredible. My Zero SLR is nearly one and a half pounds lighter than my first Wilier, which is an incredible four pounds lighter than my first road bike. Its ultralight aero frame, plus the customized ceramic bottom bracket, made pedaling as smooth as silk and the Zero lightning fast. With a bike like this, you might wonder, what else can I need? A fair question, but fortunately, bike engineers, technology, and n+1 will provide the answer. And, fortunately, for 2023, Wilier has launched its new Granturismo SLR. Could it be this year’s “+1” for me?

Whether or not the Granturismo SLR finds its way into my growing stable of bikes, I wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2023 filled with some new beginnings of your own.

Michigan Legislative Consultants is a bipartisan lobbying firm based in Lansing, Michigan. Our team of lobbyists and procurement specialists provide a wide range of services for some of the most respected companies in America. For more on MLC, visit www.mlcmi.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.