Daddy's Yellow Truck

When we were in Utah recently, leaving Janae's house and heading for a stay at Ken & Judy's, Ben kept telling me he needed to go for a ride in daddy's yellow truck. I promised him that as soon as we got to grandma & granddad's that granddaddy would take him for a ride in daddy's yellow truck. As soon as we arrived, both Ben & I told granddad that Ben "needed" a ride in the truck. Ben was thrilled to finally get in the truck with granddad. He insisted on bringing a sister along, and as soon as he got in the car, he would excitedly say to sister, "hold my hand". To Ben, riding in daddy's yellow truck was the equivalent of an exhilarating ride on an amusement park roller coaster.


Several years ago, after tiring of driving a 4-door sedan, Brad would talk and dream about buying a truck. I listened to the talk but always told him I liked having a "date" car. Out of the blue one day he called me and told me he saw an ad in the paper and was going to buy a 1970 Chevy pick up. I chuckled for a minute, (yea, right Brad, that's a good one), and then, positive that he was just kidding around, I told him, "go for it!" That night Brad arrived at home in a rusty, old, beat up, yellow, 1970 Chevy pick up truck.

As I looked at this truck in total shock and disbelief, I said, "I thought you were kidding around. I didn't think you would really buy a 1970 truck. Why did you buy this truck?"

"Well, you said 'go for it,'" he smiled.

"I said 'go for it' because I didn't think you were serious." "You've always said you wanted a truck, but in my mind, this is not a truck! I thought you meant a NEW truck" "Where are we going to keep this thing?" "It's huge!"

"We can keep it in the garage."

"Really? We are going to fit this monster and my Yukon in our garage? There is no way they will both fit."

Well - Brad found a way for both trucks to fit (rather uncomfortably) in our garage. Yellow Truck sat in our garage all week long until Saturday came around & Brad would take the girls for a ride and to buy slurpees. The girls loved it. I, however, was not a big fan of Yellow Truck or the gassy fumes that would remain in the garage every time it was driven. In time, I learned why this truck meant something to Brad, and as it turned out, to everyone in his family. Yellow Truck was just like the truck that Brad's granddad Cornell Stewart drove when Brad was a kid. Brad's "new" Yellow Truck was a visual remembrance of granddaddy Cornell, so I stopped complaining about my crowded garage and the truck's gassy fumes.

When Brad's parents began building their house in Woodland, Brad suggested that they take Yellow Truck and keep him up there during the building process. In fact, perhaps they should just keep Yellow Truck up there for as long as they wanted. Even though I no longer complained about Yellow Truck, I loved this idea about letting him enjoy the great outdoors, which in turn, would allow me to enjoy my garage a little more. Yellow Truck now seems so much more at home in Woodland, near the "gateway to the Uintahs", rather than being cooped up in our hot, desert garage, lucky to get once-a-week drives around the neighborhood. I have no doubt that Yellow Truck has had a much happier existence since being in Woodland. Now, he has a beautiful view of the mountains from Aimee & Casey's yard, and he gets to take lots of grandchildren on rides.



And Brad still gets to drive Yellow Truck every time we visit Woodland, and now he has a little buddy, who is very enamored with Yellow Truck, to ride shot gun as they drive.

We are so happy that Yellow Truck is part of the entire Wallace family.

By the way - Brad did eventually get rid of his 4-door sedan and drives a cool, white 2007 Chevy pick up. Now it is our "date" car.