Short Lived Truck

yesterday, june 2oth, i was driving around to different auto repair shops to get quote on what it would cost to convert the a/c in my truck to the new 134a coolant. it was around 6:15 in the evening. i was sitting in the left turn lane facing south on business 121 just north of I35. my light turned green and i proceeded to make a u-turn to go north on business 121. as i'm entering the far right lane i'm looking at a tow truck that is coming up to a yielding turn, to make sure he was going to yield to me.

the next thing i know..."CRASH", my eyes shut out of reflex. i can feel the right side of my truck land back onto the ground, i quickly open to see my truck rolling into the grass on the side of the road. i put my truck in park, turned off the engine, removed my keys, took a quick look around, and then got out of my truck. i began to walk towards a man stumbling towards me and away from his late 80's model camaro.


as i walk towards him i yell out, "are you okay....are you okay?" at that moment a witness to the accident comes jogging up to us and tells the man to sit down on the ground. as he layed down in the grass i reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and dialed 911. after describing the accident and our location the operator told me a police officer and ambulance were on their way. when i hung up the phone i noticed two more witnesses where standing near by. they asked if i was okay and i replied, "yes, as far as i know."

the man that was driving the camaro couldn't speak english, but one of the witnesses was beside him who also spoke spanish. shortly after i made the call a firetruck, ambulance, and police officer showed up to the scene. they immediately started checking on the man laying on the ground. while doing so a fire fighter asked who else was in the accident and i told him i was. he asked if i was okay, and i told him my hip was a bit sore, but that was it. he asked if i wanted to go to the hospital and i declined the ambulance ride, but told them i would go later in the evening.

looking at my truck with the officer on the scene was surreal. the whole event was surreal. i never saw the camaro coming, and obviously he didn't see me slowly making a u-turn in a 20 feet long truck. my windows where rolled down so my head didn't slam against my driver's side window, and there wasn't any glass that could come flying towards me from the passenger side. after a police officer took me for a 3/4 mile drive home, i got into my car and drove to the local hospital. amazingly i was in and out in less than 1/2 an hour. as far as i know all i have are some bruises on my hips from my seat belt. despite the loss of my truck, i'm simply glad to be alive and for the most part unharmed. thanks be to God.

I Got My Truck Back

august 8, 2002 is a date that will live in my mind for a long time. just before midnight a neighbor of mine came to my door, woke me up, and told me that my 1992 chevy truck had just been stolen. my first truck, my favorite truck, and a truck i might have been a bit too attached to. i didn't care that it was ten years old and it had over 160k miles on it. i kept it in immaculate condition. it was my baby. i made my final loan payment on it in may of 2002, and i spent $1500 dollars the week before it was stolen on new tires and a whole new break system. my plan was to keep this truck for a long time, but in an instant all that changed. my truck was found 28 days after it was stolen. a sheriff in gun barrel city, tx found it on a back country road. well, what was left of it. all he found was a frame and an empty cab on blocks.

i replaced my stolen truck with a 1999 chevy truck. it was nice, but it came with new monthly payment and it just didn't feel right. after owning it just over a year it needed a $1000 repair. instead of financing the repair i decided to finance a new truck. so i bought a 2003 gmc truck.

this was a very nice truck. it had a smooth ride and extra features such as duel climate control, but it came with an even bigger monthly commitment. shortly after buying the new truck gas prices shot up from $1.30 per gallon to nearly $2.00. making a tank of gas go from $30 to over $50. six months later, out of necessity, i traded it in for a fuel efficient toyota corolla. i've owned my corolla for over 3 years now. it has been good to me and my pocket book, but it isn't and never will be a car i cherish like i did my first truck.

my grandpa has been sick with parkinson's disease for a couple of years now. last year the doctors told him that he was no longer allowed to drive because they felt his reaction time had become to slow, not to mention he might accidentally jerk the wheel and cause an accident. for nearly a year his truck has sat still under his barn. a few months ago he came to the realization that he really wouldn't be able to drive again and decided he would sell his truck, a 1992 chevy truck that is much like the one that was stolen from me.

i had previously told my dad that if the opportunity came up i would love to buy my grandpa's truck from him, but i couldn't tell my grandpa this because i didn't want him to feel like i was trying to take his freedom away from him. his freedom that i had watch him fight hard to retain. i didn't know my dad had told my grandpa how i felt until my grandpa approached me about it. he said, "i hear someone wants to buy my truck." i nervously responded by saying, "who told you that?" his answer...."a little bird."

at the time i didn't have the money to buy the truck and it would have been a while before i could have saved enough money for it. at the time i would have had to of told him to sell it to someone else because i just didn't have the money. just a few weeks after having that conversation with my grandpa my mom died. which resulted in my getting a few thousand dollars in life insurance money from my step-dad. with that money i paid off my car, gave some money to the church, and a loan to a friend. i was left with not quite enough money to buy the truck, but without a hefty car payment i decided i would take out a small loan and buy the truck from my grandpa. i must say that it feels good to have a 1992 chevy truck again. just sitting in it brings back good memories and a wonderful feeling. it feels like a part of me has come home. if someone came up to me right now and offered to trade a brand new truck for mine i would turn them away. i'm not getting rid of my truck. the truck that replaces my stolen truck that i so cherished; the truck that belonged to my grandpa; the truck that i was only able to buy because of my mom's death. as far as i'm concerned i'll have to die before someone takes this truck from me, legally that is.