I Drive Your Truck

I want to give a shout out to a friend of Gary's who recently put something on his facebook page that was especially important to me.

First an overview:
Gary had a company truck for the 10 years he was with his company.  The two of us never took this luxury for granted.  I know that Gary would have wished for nicer trucks- perhaps one with an extended cab or cruise control, but hey- beggars can't be choosers, right?

Those plain vanilla Ford F-150's came in handy every day and we got to run around with it as if it were our own vehicle. It was from those trucks that Gary honked at Robbie and me on our morning walks as he drove past us on his way to work.  >Honk Honk<  "Hey Robbie!!" Gary would yell.  I tried to get Robbie to see who it was, but the dog didn't connect the dots that it was his person in that truck telling him goodbye.

Gary was a truck guy from day one.  His first car was a tiny Opal I'm told.  I never got to see it, because when I met him as an 18 year old, he had just purchased a shiny new navy blue Ford truck which was very very nice, but also very unusual for the average 18 year old to own.  With stock rims, and not jacked up, it was meant for WORK that a carpenter would do.

Throughout the years, Gary owned a lot of nice trucks and a couple of nice GMC vans, too. But if he ever was behind the wheel of a car, as in a rental, he looked very out of place.  One reason- his head always hit the roof of a car, he was so tall.  Trucks fit him like a glove, though.

I was reading facebook and an entry by Javier made me tear up, because it was so thoughtful. Dear Javier is the recipient now of Gary's old company truck, a nicely worn 2011 Ford F-150. His entry on facebook stated that he doesn't really like a song he heard on the radio the other day.  Called it poorly written and badly constructed(he's a music critic in his spare time). Yet, listening to the words the other day, he was reminded of the history of the vehicle he was driving and when he looked in the rearview mirror, it wasn't his own face he saw, but Gary's.

Here is the song by Lee Brice:

Not being a country music fan, I had to pull it up on You Tube myself. But of course, it was just so appropriate, and so like Javier to make this kind observation.

Yesterday, April 9th, was the one year anniversary of Gary's last day of work. He drove the truck home and cleaned out the glove box and all the canvas organizers he had gotten for the truck with his Pep Boy points.  He found the spare keys and I followed him as he drove the truck over to his then assistant manager's house to leave the truck in his driveway.  I can only guess what what going on in his head.  I felt kind of sick myself.

It was the last time Gary ever drove a truck.

Javier, as assistant manager, now drives that lovely truck that Gary and I spent so many hours in and I have so many memories of.  It takes Javier all over Southern California on the same roads Gary traveled on and will do so until it has so many miles it will be replaced.  For now, that truck is still a piece of Gary's legacy proving that he was THERE.