My First Car

      Every kid dreams of getting a car when they turn 16.  In that respect, I was no different.  I loathed the school bus and was eager to kiss that mode of transportation goodbye and say hello to independence and my own set of wheels.  Even before the ink was dry on my driver’s license my dad was out looking for a car for me to drive.

      He bought me a used 1979 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.  It wasn’t exactly the coolest car in the world but it got me where I wanted to go.  I was thrilled to drive that car to and from school.  Back in those days it came in real handy since I was so busy with activities after school.  From after school practices with the cross country team to rehearsals for drama club productions, I was always coming or going. 

       After a while we realized the thing leaked power steering fluid.  I remember my Dad showing me exactly where to add more, how to check the oil, and just how much antifreeze was in the radiator.  I would have to carry power steering fluid with me every where I went so that when it got hard to turn the wheel all I had to do was pop the hood and add some.  It was a real pain in the a$$ but better than having no wheels at all.

       When I was accepted at Belmont University, my dad decided I needed a more dependable ride and bought me a 1984 Dodge Shelby Charger.  While I never developed any attachment to the Oldsmobile, I loved my Shelby Charger.  It was sweet and went like a bat out of hell.  I had more crazy adventures in that car than any other before or since.  One time on the way home from Belmont I was chased by a tornado.  I have basically had my head up my a$$ most of my life but that particular night I also managed to drive through the wrong set of cautionary cones at a Shell gas station and my car ended up straight up and down in a deep ditch that resembled a moat.  The car came out of that little episode with a scratch on the spoiler.  A couple weeks later someone actually stole that spoiler.  They ripped it right off the car with it sitting right in front of my parent’s house.  It was a win-win situation because I got a new spoiler out of the deal thanks to insurance.  The car finally met its maker one summer day when I was driving about 100 miles per hour on the interstate and a hose blew.  By the time the car came to a stop the block was cracked and ruined.  Ooops!  

        Many cars, trucks, and SUV’s have passed through my life since those first two.  While I cut my teeth driving that first Oldsmobile, it is the Dodge Shelby Charger that brings back the most memories of a time in my life when I was born to be wild and the world was my oyster until next time when I give you another glimpse into the life of a trucker’s wife.