Old Red Truck
It looked like a scene right out of "Ice Road Truckers!" Only thing is, it was the beginning of summer. My neighbors were beginning to emerge from their houses with a curiosity that seemed to ask, "Have I seen this episode before?" You see the extraction of the old red truck from my backyard at first appearances was overly dramatic. It's slow emergence from the darkness under a winches' pull into the flashing emergency lights and steady rain was a perfect metaphor for it's former owner's (that would be me) life. This decade long restoration project was making a dramatic exit from my possession. It was liberating for me to know it was leaving at just the exact appointed moment going exactly where it belongs. Our Creator never disappoints!
I bought the old red and white pick up almost 10 years ago. I was working for a metal stripping company called Eco-Clean. One of its spin off businesses was a powder coating shop which I managed for them. We did a lot of work for classic auto restorers. I came across this attractive old Ford with the standard transmission, a classic “three in the tree.” I guess you could say the red truck turned my head. I’ve always had a weakness for redheads!
I thought the truck needed restoring and I was just the guy to do it. Problem was, it wasn’t the truck that needed restoration. It was me. In a matter of months, I found myself at the low -drop off- point. I was dropped off at a rehab facility. My characterization of the place at the time and still today is that the facility was a cross between “Shawshank Redemption” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
I was finally and figuratively beaten into reasonableness. I was willing to listen and take suggestions. I had become teachable, a critical characteristic of those desiring to find some humility. I entered a program of recovery characterized by meaningful fellowship, mainly with other men who had the same problems as I. The recovery fellowship led me back to my Christian faith I had only mostly given lip service to.
I learned that sobriety meant becoming comfortable in my own skin. That the state of serenity characterized by sobriety is the same thing I had been hearing in Church my whole life. It is the same peace the Christ teaches and is a representative of. It is the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Back to the truck, well, I never got to it. I have been too busy attending to my own restoration. In the past ten years I have experienced losing a home to foreclosure, separation then divorce, bankruptcy and through it all I am stronger in my faith and most days more comfortable in my own skin. I am still sober! Praises due here.
Patrick with Eli's Old Red Truck!
It is time for someone else to restore that old red truck. I put it up for sale recently. Do you know what? It is one of the most glorious experiences I have had lately. That truck is going exactly where it belongs! Patrick, the young man who bought it, has a stable of Classic Autos he and his dad have rebuilt. But before we came to a deal, I asked if he planned to fix it up and sell it? He said no. He will give it to his son Eli and they will rebuild the old red truck together. We had a deal!
The best part is, the boy, Eli, is eight years old! I asked if he planned to teach Eli to drive in the old red truck. Patrick said that it is exactly the plan. It was the same way he had learned to drive with his father teaching in an old pickup with "three in the tree." To my eyes and ears this was the picture of our Father’s glorious grace that surrounds us all. One more thing. There has been on the dashboard of the old red truck a Crucifix with magnet made from Arizona desert cactus. It was a special gift to me and has been on the dash all through the trying years. I asked Patrick if he wanted me to remove it? He said that he wants to keep it there.
Hallelujah Brother!
Bradford Bosworth
May 2018
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