On the Road

July 27th is now a red-letter day in the Browning house. We paid the first month's insurance this afternoon, which was the final step in making the truck legal.


For those of you who don't know the WHOLE story.......My dad order this truck, a 1977 El Camino in 1976. It arrived at our house on December 6th, 1976 (years later Andrew and I would marry on the 6th of December, not realizing it was the anniversary of the truck). My dad loved this truck, I loved this truck. Sometime over the next couple of years, My dad informed me that when I turned 16, he would turn over the keys and he would get himself a new one.

Dad died when I was 13, so the second new truck was never meant to be. Also, because of the huge change in our lives, I never really thought about the promise my dad made me. My mom did though, and when I turned 16, she handed me a set of keys to the truck. Many of you who were around back then, I am sure, have stories about the truck that I can't even remember. It saw a lot of good times. When I was old enough to buy myself a car, I returned the keys to Mom.

In 1994, something happened to part of the truck and it stopped having the ability to move. Mom parked it in the garage and within the next year started telling Robert when he grew up he could have it. I knew then and there he would hold her to it. For the next several years, if we were at Moms, you could find him sitting behind the wheel of the truck, dreaming about the day...this day.

Four summers ago, the winds took the garage, remarkably, the El Camino came out of it unscathed and found it's way to our garage. The boys started slowly but surely getting it to run. Every little step was a huge victory but deep down inside, I think Robert believed it ever getting back on the road may just be a pipe dream. I am not sure but what he was still feeling that Saturday morning as we went to get the tags, it was still not sinking in.

Today, we paid for the insurance, the lady told him to be careful, he says, "You don't have any idea how careful I will be". I think I do. I know he never met my dad, everybody who knows Robert and knew my dad though knows how much of my dad is built into him though. This is the bond that ties them together. Robert loves that truck as much as Dad did. I bawled as he pulled out of the drive...one because he got to see his dream come true and two because I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my dad saw that too. What a day, what an emotional, glorious day.