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.
