Goodbye to an Old Friend

(I wrote the following not knowing that my dear husband had already posted about his truck. For those desiring a more detailed account, read this post. If not, skip it.)

Matt sold his pickup truck this past weekend. That '66 Chevy served him well. He bought it when he was in high school. He replaced the transmission (twice) and made many other improvements, including installing an ignition switch so he didn't need the key to start the truck. Matt's most frequent passenger in those early years was his Golden Retriever, Roscoe. When I arrived on the scene during Matt's last year of college, I took Roscoe's seat beside Matt and Roscoe was relegated to the back of the pickup. Roscoe passed away, but the truck, she kept going.

That truck made many trips back and forth over the mountains to and from college. After Matt graduated, it took him to work everyday. It brought all our wedding gifts to our first tiny apartment. It transported my Grandma's piano to our first little house. Gracie was just two weeks old at the time and she made the journey North and back with us. The truck hauled loads of junk to the dump and countless loads of bark, sod, dirt and brick. She saved Matt (and our black lab, Abby) from terrible injury on icy roads one early January morning when she rolled, but landed upright with Matt and the dog safely inside. Matt and a friend banged out the dents (as best they could) and Matt continued to drive the truck to work for the next two years.

The truck never really recovered from the rollover, though, and continued to fall into disrepair. In all her lifetime she never was converted to use unleaded gas. The pickup needed a new radiator and had numerous other ailments. Yet, she took her biyearly trip to the dump and was even able to transport Matt's riding lawnmower to our new house this past summer. Alas, though, her time was done. She had served her owner well for many years. The truck was sold to a man who seemed to have high hopes of repairing her. Maybe she still has the capability of providing a another batch of memories to the new owner, a man who will have the time to love her the way Matt always did.