Canmore Alberta. For nearly a year I spent time walking through town only driving occasionally when the family I was staying with would ask me to take their truck to do something for them. After a while time and necessity dictated that I start shopping for a vehicle. A few junkers were abundant, and I even went out to test drive a Dodge Shadow for some dude who was moving back to Israel to take up arms and defend his country on the Gaza Strip.
Didn’t end up driving the Dodge only because it was a standard. Wish he had mentioned it in the advert.
I remember checking in to see my friend Roger who ran a popular local pharmacy to tell him how my car shopping was going. After telling him my luck seemed to be running out, he produced a photo of the car you see in this post. A 1988 base model Camaro. He assumed I was looking for something relatively inexpensive. He hesitated at first thinking I might not be interested, then asked if I wanted to test drive. Although I was not really sure if I was going to be able to buy this car, the idea of owning a Camaro was a bit of a childhood dream. My fascination for older model Chevrolets was still there although rarely thought of.
The next afternoon I landed at his townhouse and we went out for a drive. I fell instantly in love with it. Even for a base model, this car had some jump to it that I had never experienced in any sport car that I had driven. Roger’s wife was the original owner, and the vehicle had low mileage. So with a little help, I decided to buy it.
That old car and I went through a ton of things together. Life changes and life happenings. A few breakdowns in busy traffic, and over 100 thousand km which I logged on my own in road trips through the Rockies. I would bestow the nickname of “Charlie’s Angel” to this car as a salute to my mechanic from New Glasgow. He proudly hung a picture of this car in his garage during his last few months of work before retiring from the business. When I ran into him this past September, he still fondly remembered me talking about this car and that he still had the picture at home.
Ten years ago I was one week into a job with a trucking company. They specialized in overnight hauling on a busy route through the Rockies from Calgary through to Vancouver. That day I drove home for a bite. The gas I spent to drive home probably was not worth it, but the peace and quiet was worth it for a few minutes of recovery.
In front of Frank Sisson’s Silver Dollar Casino, a Garbage Truck that was driving too fast slammed into the rear end of my car. I was taken to Rockyview Hospital with a few injuries which set in fairly quick. Was certainly lucky to get out of this in one piece.
You will never see me reflecting negatively on that time of life. As much as I miss that old car, life moved on. The next several months were spent healing from these bang-ups and reviewing a change in direction. As I began to heal I started to take more positive action towards my health.
Never will you find me mourning the loss of this vehicle. As much as I would like to have her back for a day, it was an event that certainly did change my perspective on things. It was certainly not an easy time for myself or Cheryl, but with her help I was able to heal much quicker and make life continue onward.
Originally published on Dann Alexander
Got Writer’s Block?
Sign up for our Writing Prompts email to receive writing inspiration in your inbox twice per week.
♦◊♦
We are a participatory media company. Join us.
Participate with the rest of the world, with the things you write and the things you say, and help co-create the world you want to live in.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group, and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.