Graduation Day

Yes, this really is me in a dress.

          I am a proud little sister this week!  Out of five kids, my sister Margaret is the only one of us to have a college degree.  The rest of us have done other things (i.e. truck driving school) but Margaret is the only one with a diploma from a university.  Both of our parents have passed and there have been plenty of times in my life where I have thought “I’m really glad they’re not here to see how badly I’ve screwed this up.” Sunday afternoon when I watched Margaret walk across that stage I was thinking “I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this.”

          I asked Margaret if she would mind if I posted about this here after I realized a second blessing this weekend – being able to go there in my Freymiller truck.  My second summer here, I got disgruntled and started calling other companies.  One of the things I was asking when I made those calls was about time off… can I take time off wherever I want? More than one company told me no, I could only take time off at “home.”

          One of my favorite things about Freymiller is I can take time off wherever I want... within reason, they have to be able to get a load that goes there.  I have taken time off in Indiana, Alabama, North Carolina and even Wyoming.  I’ve been able to spend holidays with different family members, made it to my sister’s graduation and got to see one of my best friends get married - without having to fly or drive my own car to do it.  This takes a great burden off me not to have to take extra time off and incur the expense of travel.  I admit that this is a major benefit for me because I’m cheap, I hate flying and driving long distances in a car.  I don't think I need to mention how much more comfortable the ride is in a Kenworth 660 than a Pontiac Sunfire either.

Elk City Tornado

·         Picture courtesy of and used by permission of OKIE Livin

·         https://www.facebook.com/okielivin/

          Tuesday evening I was down in Elk City, OK to pick up a load when the tornado sirens went off.  When I left OKC about 4:00, I assumed a quick trip down, drop and hook, straight back and home by 9:00.  You know what they say about assuming, right?

          News9 reported 1 confirmed fatality and at least 100 structures damaged with more than 50 destroyed.  The tornado has been estimated to be an EF2.  I’ve lived most of my life in the Midwest, so while this isn’t my first experience with a tornado, it is the closest I’ve come to seeing one.  I think I was about 5 miles from the path of the tornado, but I’m not familiar enough with Elk City to say for sure.

          I was sitting in the storm shelter with warehouse employees, office employees and other drivers - listening to them chatter - but staying mostly quiet.  I was praying for the safety of people who didn’t have the luxury of a storm shelter when I had the strangest thought.  “God, you know how I feel about moving into a truck, I need you to keep her on her wheels out there.”  I wasn’t concerned about my safety; one of the office people had made the statement that the shelter was built to withstand 300 mph winds.  I was more concerned about my truck.  My concern doubled when I remembered that my phone was sitting on the dash.

          By the time all the excitement was over and I got out of there; I had been there for almost 4 hours.  I didn’t get home until after midnight, undamaged but exhausted.  I’m certainly not looking forward to a repeat performance.

          Many prayers are going up for the victims of the tornado in Elk City and for the safety of all those who live in tornado prone regions.

Clyde Watanabe (favorite peeps)

          I’ve not been shy about the fact that I think I am blessed to work with an amazing group of people. I’m also not shy about stating that I think I have the best DM (driver manager, aka dispatcher) at Freymiller; Clyde Watanabe.  That’s not to say that the other DM’s aren’t great; they’re just not Clyde.

          Clyde has been around Freymiller for about 17 years and in the trucking industry for over 40 years.  (I think he started working when he was 10.)  When he decides to retire, you’ll probably hear my sobs all over the country.  I tell him that when he’s not there when I expect him to be, I get separation anxiety.  If he only knew how true a statement that is!

          What I love most about Clyde is he knows his drivers.  When a situation is coming, he knows how I will handle it before I even know it exists.  He is also on top of what’s going on.  If I have a question, he usually knows the answer.  If he doesn’t, he has it for me within a few hours.  He’s never left me hanging. He is also very even tempered.  I had one driver tell me “I love Clyde, it doesn’t matter how whacked out I get, he still stays calm.” 

          When I asked Clyde what he likes to do when he’s not at work, he mentioned hanging out with his homeless friends.  You can tell a lot about a person by how he treats people who can do nothing for him.  It’s easy to throw money at problems in our society, but not everyone makes time in their busy life to get into the trenches.  Clyde walks the talk.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

          This Sunday, May 7^th marks one year since we launched the blog.  My, how time flies.  It took me almost six months from the time the idea formed in my head until I worked up the courage to propose the idea to David Freymiller.  A year ago I had two concerns: what would I write about?  Would anyone even read it?  The fear that Freymiller would decide it was a waste of time and money after the ninety-day test run kept me up at night for a long time. 

          I can honestly say I have only sat in front of a blank Word document once hoping it would tell me what to write and that was when I was going through some very stressful personal stuff.  You almost got a blog post about relationship woes that week.  I usually know days - sometimes weeks - in advance what bizarre thoughts and experiences I will be sharing with you.

          I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  When I look back over the past year, I’m not sure I have accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish, but I know I have accomplished some things that were a nice surprise.  I believe this experience has made me a better writer.

          I don’t pretend to know what the future holds.  At some point, the time may come to close this chapter in my life. Ten years of recovery from Codependency have taught me to live on the “one day at a time” plan.  So, for today… we have a blog.  I’m thankful for it, I’m thankful for the opportunity and I’m outrageously thankful for you, the reader.

          Peace out, my peeps!

Random Acts of Kindness

          On her internationally known talk show, Oprah Winfrey declared Feb 15^th 1994 “Random Acts of Kindness Day.”  This sparked a movement that quickly blew across the country, probably the world.  A follow-up show highlighted some of the ways people took action to show kindness to others, mostly strangers.

          In 2006, John Mayer had a hit single titled “Waiting on the World to Change.” Note: I hate that song.  I have always hated that song.  The first time I heard that song I thought “Why don’t you get off your butt and be the change you want to see in the world?”

On Day 13 of Purpose Driven Life, John Warren describes different ways people worship God.  When I read the words “Activists love God through confronting evil, battling injustice, and working to make the world a better place.” I thought “Yes! That’s me!”

It costs little to nothing to show kindness to someone.  The other morning I was in line at a truckstop to pay for a few things when a man came in the door, carrying a plastic bag with things he’d already purchased.  He grabbed two bananas and got in line behind me, making the comment “I knew I was forgetting something.”  When it was my turn to be rung up, I asked the man “is that all you forgot?”  He said yes, so I told the cashier to ring his bananas up with my stuff.  She looked surprised and he said, “you don’t have to do that.”  I said, “well I know that, but I want to.”  After a little back and forth, I paid for his bananas and we both went on our way.

That little interaction cost me $1.50, whoopee.  I recovered that before I drove to the other side of Tucson.  My hope is that my small act of kindness set the tone for his day.  I also hope it sparked him to do something nice for someone else.

There is so much discussion about how bad the world is getting, how we long for the “good old days” when people treated each other with kindness and respect.  Can we be the change we want to see in the world?  I admit, there is a lack of consideration in our society today, but that will never stop me from being nice to people.  This is just who I am.  I certainly don’t have the influence that Oprah Winfrey has.  I will probably never start a global movement, but I will always work to make my little corner of the world a better place.

Will you join me and look for some opportunities to commit some Random Acts of Kindness this week?

truckersfinalmile.org

                When Bobby passed away in February one of the concerns his family expressed was how they were going to get him from Washington, back home to California.  I told his father that there were organizations set up to help families of truck drivers in times like this and I would do some digging around and call him back with some information.  I called back about an hour later with the name and phone number for truckersfinalmile.org

          I want you to know about this for two reasons:

    1.   If you’re reading my blog, you’re probably either a truck driver or you know one and I want you to know about this resource if you ever find yourself in the same type of situation as Bobby and his family were in.

    2.   This organization runs primarily on individual donations.  It needs our support and I’m not too shy to ask you to help me support it.  Any amount…  $10, $25, $50 or more, combined with the donations of others makes a difference in the life of grieving families.

Three different family members of Bobby’s called me and thanked me for giving them the contact information for truckersfinalmile.org.  This organization is literally answered prayer for families in grief without the financial resources to bring their loved one home.

There are several organizations that have been created to help truck drivers in crisis, but after losing Bobby and knowing what his family was going through, this one is heavy on my heart.  I have a real passion for getting the word out about truckersfinalmile.org

I hope you will help me get the word out about this worthy organization.

RIP, Nacho

          On February 26^th, I lost one of my favorite people on the planet, Bobby Lopez.  I met Bobby in 2013 when he was driving for Freymiller.  We lost him just over a month ago, when he died from complications after surgery in Seattle, WA.

          There has been a combination of laughter and tears as the people he left behind have shared stories of him and grieved together with the knowledge that we have to go on without him.

          Bobby never met a stranger.  His daughter and I laughed together when she told me she used to tease him about “his new best friend that he just met in line at Wal-mart.” 

He had such an amazing heart, levels of compassion that knew no boundaries.  If you had a need, he would turn himself inside out to meet it for you.  He wasn’t afraid to tell you he loved you.  Many times, Bobby gave me hope for humanity, showing me that there are still good people out here and not everyone is just out for what they can get from you.

I believe I will see Bobby on the other side.  An hour before he went into surgery he and I had a great conversation that I am very thankful for.  We talked about God, family, and faith among other things.  He reminded me that I still owed him a steak because the Raiders beat the Panthers.  I would give way more than the $50 limit we set to be able to buy him that steak today.

I miss my friend.  My world is definitely a little darker these days without him.