He went on his first big truck ride on Christmas Eve, riding on the Dog Box in a 40 lb Conagra chicken box. He was one month old, swaddled comfortably and perfectly content riding in that old Freightliner.
When he got a little older, he would ride with his daddy some during the summer break from school. They'd pull out and his tiny hands would wave out the window of the big truck and I'd smile and choke back tears and wave till they were out of sight. When they returned, he'd climb down talking and his eyes would shine as he told me of his adventures. I'd listen, mesmerized, and his face would light up as he talked about seeing snow for the first time or listening with his Dad to Louis L'Amour on audio books. He was growing up comfortably content in an International CabOver.
His Dad came off the road and started driving local, so his trips were curtailed. He finished high school and went off to college and when he came home, I'd listen to him talk about riding home in a line of truckers. His face would light up as he described those big Peterbilts with their chicken lights and smokin stacks and I knew ... I knew that no matter what he did in life he wouldn't be content until he was back on the road.
The other night I sat in the passenger's seat of his big truck and listened as he told me about his adventures from California to Florida. I watched his face light up as he talked about seeing the sun come up in Montana, and hiking after a deer in Colorado and walking through the snow in North Dakota. And I listened to him talk about throwing tarps and riding ruts and sleeping with the curtain down. I sat right there in that seat and he sat right there in that sleeper and 20 years melted away and for a minute he was my little man, perfectly content riding that truck.
My Trucker Tony in The Big Red Dawg. There has never been a prouder Mama.
As you go about your daily business, I ask that throw your hand up and wave and smile at that Trucker you pass. Show a kindness to that hard working, hard driving man or woman. And remember to drive safely around them because their spouses and lovers and family and kids ... and their Mama ... is waiting on their safe return.
