Friday, April 24, 2015

Old Junk Life

Hey friends. Its been a whirlwind of a week. An emotional one too. My dad appeared here in town out of nowhere. He's been dealing with the loss of his second long term wife, Gloria. So have I, really. I've just been working so much that I haven't had much time to sit and grieve or think about that or any of the other emotional crap on my plate much at all. I grieve sometimes, but my dad and I really haven't had the chance to sit and talk about it. I reached out to him with a letter last week about how I felt about him, Gloria and my life in general. And this week, he showed up out of nowhere. It was a welcome surprise. But a bit crazy because I had no chance to take a day off of work to spend time with him. But we worked around it and I saw him in passing in-between the jobs. He left and went up north to visit my brothers and then back to my place here in East Lansing. I had Wednesday off and he had a lead on a new car for me. I had to turn in the one I was using. I needed a vehicle of my own. We looked at newer cars. I wanted something safe for me to have the kids, good in the snow and would last a couple years without needing work. We just couldn't find anything in my reasonable price range. I don't have much money at all, really. But the lead came from back home, Carmi, Illinois where my Uncle Steve got a 1996 Chevy Blazer. 102K miles, good body and he'd put work into it to make sure it would run great.

At first I was a little disheartened. I had my idea set that I could afford a newer car payment. I wanted something that would be newer, impressive and would last me. An almost 20 year old vehicle really didn't sound appealing. But beggars cannot be choosers. So I had Wednesday off and we headed the 8 hour drive to Carmi, Illionis...

Passing through Indianapolis. Always a fun city to look at through the windows on the drive.

Here's my dad trying to talk his way out of a ticket for speeding! Yeah, we got caught for speeding. He got us about 12 miles from our destination too! Ain't that Murphy's Law for you?

But the cop was cool with us and we BOTH got warning tickets. Dad for speeding, and me for sleeping in the back seat without a seat belt on. I had worked the gas station the night before and was on zero sleep, so I curled up back there. Sue me! But its okay. Just a written warning. I'm no outlaw!
And we got to Carmi safe and sound. One of the things we did was visit the graveyard where my moms are buried. Gloria recently had her name put on the same stone as my parents. I finally got to see it....

Here is my Mom and Dad's stone on the front. My brother's is right next to mom on the left for the day he leaves us.

And on the back, Gloria's name has been added.
Dad and I had some deep heart to heart talks. We're both sorta in odd places in our lives. Lots of happiness but also some hurt to deal with. We hugged and talked a lot. I'm glad that I got to get rid of some of the demons that was haunting me on this trip.

Anyway, we went to S&E Auto Salvage and found my vehicle. My 1996 Blazer. I took it for a drive. The Steering wheel is crooked, the turn signal don't snap back after a turn, the Cd player don't work, Driver's seat has a rip, It take a while to get up to speed on the highway, Cruise control dont work and a slew of other minor problems. Initially, I was a tad bummed. But for some reason, I felt like I liked the old guy. And it is a guy. Most cars are referred to with a female vibe to it but no, this was a guy. A beaten up, older guy. Not too old though. Still good. Still runs. Beautiful paint job. No rust. In fact, its black with red trim. I've been referring to it as the BAT-BLAZER! Maybe I'll get some Bat Symbol stickers and make it a nice homage to the 1960's Adam West Batman series.

There's my old man. We made it back to Michigan together.
He rides comfortably. Spacious. It just felt like "home." And on the 8 hour drive back to Michigan together, I got quite attached to him. 1996 was the year I graduated high school. That year, we were both starting out our lives. We've weathered the worst storms possible until today. We're older, some things are a bit worn out but are still good. Still driveable. I just felt a kinship with this vehicle. I fell in love with it. Its me. My style. A nice allegory for how I'm feeling right now. I'm still breathing. Some things on me are beginning to break down, not run as great as it used to. And its not gonna get any better. But I still run good. I'm still drivable! As Indiana Jones put it: "Its not the age, its the mileage!" Most people would probably hate driving an older vehicle like this. They'd find it old, boring and embarassing and would want to trade it in for something new. But just because something... or someone... isn't as sleek, faster, stronger, smarter or pretty as something new, doesn't mean you throw it away. Sometimes, old faithfuls are worth it in the end. They are loyal and stay with you through the long haul. And they sometimes still purr like a kitten and have a nice shine if you care enough to look deeper and see it.

SO: We're back home and back at working my two jobs. Also doing art on my projects. I finished one card set and I am back to doing pages tonight and this weekend. Looking forward to kicking some ass on art! Thanks for checking back everyone.

(Special thanks to Uncle Steve and everyone at S&E Auto Salvage in Carmi, Ill.)

ADAM T.

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