Grief is strange. You find yourself making cups of coffee for someone who can’t drink it. You accidentally order their favorite pizza topping and have to peel it off each slice. You sleep in their spot on the bed, or you don’t sleep at all.

No matter what you do, it finds you. It’s an intimate and personal process that looks and feels different for everyone.

Anyone familiar with this painful procedure knows the toll it can take, which can sometimes lead to the need for a change. For some, it’s playing a new instrument or running a few miles each day. Maybe for others it’s painting landscapes or planting a garden to maintain.

For Janet Bond, it meant going to legislators.

On March 30, 2025, Calvin Spurlock was flung off of a street bike and died in the ambulance en route to the hospital. He was 4 years old.

After the sudden, traumatic loss of her young grandson, Calvin, Bond decided enough was enough.

During the candlelight vigil, held at the site of the tragedy in St. Peter’s, Bond recalled speaking with Rep. Terri Violet, R-St. Peters. Out of this meeting, House Bill 1831 was born and later merged with similar legislation.

The bill, known as “Calvin’s Law,” sought to establish more safety precautions required for children on motorcycles and motor-tricycles.

For Bond and her family, if this legislation had passed, it would have been a victory — a victory that would hopefully save more lives. But despite coming close, even after being offered as an amendment to another bill, no legislation passed the Missouri General Assembly this year.

“I hope that it protects the children in the future,” Bond said in an interview.

She vowed to continue to work for change. “I cannot fathom another family going through what we’ve done with the simplicity of having a law that prohibits it,” she said.

Since the tragedy, Bond has also been active on social media, specifically Facebook, to advocate for motorcycle safety, and more importantly, pay tribute to Calvin.

“We only had 4 years, 7 months, and 9 days with him,” Bond said. “So, I share pictures, videos, and things just to keep his memory alive.”

On March 3, the House Transportation Committee heard the bill, with Bond testifying in favor in front of the committee. Along with Bond, the bill sponsors also testified, including Violet.

“For me, at the end of the day, this bill is about prevention," Violet said during the hearing. "It's about making sure the young children are protected, reducing the risk of serious injuries, or even worse.”

Also at the hearing was Tony Shepherd, a lobbyist for American Bikers Aimed Toward Education. Speaking on behalf of the organization, Shepherd testified against the bill.

During the committee hearing, Shepherd expressed concerns about the infringement of rights and an overbearing government involvement in lives, especially those of responsible riders.

"Most of us are responsible adults that are asking the government to stay the heck out of our lives," Shepherd said.

Shepherd also mentioned that his oldest son had died due to a traffic accident.

Diving deeper into the bill’s contents, Shepherd voiced issues with the logistics.

The bill would require the motorcycle or motor-tricycle to have a passenger seat, and all passengers 10 years of age or younger must be wearing protective headgear. The bill also would have allowed authorities to stop, inspect or detain a motorcycle or motor-tricycle operator when there is "reasonable basis to suspect that a violation involves a child passenger under 10 years of age."

One issue raised by Shepherd was how police officers would identify children.

“So now you’re going to put it up to an officer’s discretion to stop, pull you over, and go on a fishing expedition,” Shepherd said. “It kind of gets into your Fourth Amendment rights, it touches on a little bit of profiling.”

On the issue of identification, Bond is well aware children don’t carry IDs, but proposed other ideas, like having to confirm a child’s age with their birth certificate.

“Now, obviously, no, a 10-year-old child is not going to have an ID to (show proof of age),” Bond said. “But, (authorities) can at least look at the bike, make sure the motorcycle rider is not impaired, ask the rider’s age, the passenger’s age, and then perhaps even require within a 7-day or 14-day period, bring a birth certificate in.”

Bond said the birth certificate requirement would be in discussion as an addition to the bill.

Finally, Bond made it clear that, if the riders simply followed the proposed law, there would be no issue.

“We’re really not trying to take away rights, we’re really not trying to invade your privacy,” Bond said. “If you follow the law, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

On May 5, Calvin's Law was added as an amendment to Senate Bill 1421 in hopes of being passed as a part of the large bill. Along with many other amendments tacked on, Calvin's Law falls under the umbrella of SB 1421, sponsored by Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, which "modifies provisions related to public safety." The bill was passed by the House.

Last Thursday , the day before the end of the session, the amendment was removed from the Senate bill by a conference committee of Senate and House members.

Bond said they plan to refile the bill in December and vowed to keep bringing awareness to the issue, no matter how painful.

"The process has just been talking about it, bringing light to what happened," Bond said. "Even as much as it hurts and the pain we're going through reliving the conversation, it bring awareness."

While still disappointed, Bond refuses to give up.

"Hopefully the representatives we've been working with are voted back into office, or into their position in the next election, and we pick up where we left off," Bond said. "We start it over again."