Ever since we got it, I always thought it pretty; the shiny red paint begging to be touched to feel if it is truly that smooth; the open bed asking to work and the red dashboard that gave it life. When I first saw that truck, I fell in love with it. My dad brought it home after buying it from a friend and as I saw it pull up under that blue outside lamp, I felt my mouth drop open in excitement. The truck wasn’t for me of course. It was dad’s for work. It was a 1997 Ford F150 XL.
As I neared the truck, daddy invited me to go with him around the block for a test drive. What an adventure. As he turned the key in the ignition, it rumbled to life and the radio flipped on to the local country station allowing the sound to vibrate through the cab. As dad took it around the block, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath to remember the scent and feel of it. The windows were down, the wind was blowing through my hair and the smell of the inside was so crisp. I glanced over at dad to see him behind the wheel with a grin stretching all the way across his face.
Although it didn’t get very good gas mileage, it was fun for daddy to drive. He would drive it everywhere. To the school to pick up kids, to the store, to work, or just on a drive, he loved that truck. There was one summer that I particularly remember it was when it was time to cut down old, dead trees. My dad and brothers worked hard getting the stump free of the branches. Then the hard part began. Daddy wrapped a metal chain around the stump, got in the truck and pulled out the stump with little trouble. However as he was pulling it out, he ran over my mama’s newly planted tree. We loaded that stump up in the bed of the truck and hauled it to the chipping yard.. I was sitting by daddy, my older brother was sitting next to me on the bench seats and my younger brother sat in the back seat. ceva logistics
Riding in the truck was always fun when I was with dad, but now that I drive it, I can keep daddy close everywhere even when I travel. No matter how far away I go, I will always have a little bit of daddy with me.