for some reason i began to think about this today. the first thought that came to mind was middle school. at that time, due to the nature of me being involved in everything possible from choir to peer mentoring, i could no longer ride the bus. my dad would take me to school along with my brothers. there were a few things that would happen when we would ride with dad. first, we always fought for the front seat. it was like the coolest thing to sit up front with dad, knowing that we were beside him. it was awesome. secondly, it meant that we got to control the music most likely. thirdly, we got dibs on the paper. for some reason as a child, we all took a tremendous affinity to reading the paper. i don't know why that it still draws me in when i see one laying around, but it does. so that thought made me realize that so many memories are enhanced when in a car.
in high school, before i got my permit, we started taking this gorgeous girl to school with us. so we always let her have the front, because we wanted to be "the man." we would run to open the door for her. let her pick the music and of course try to get her to talk to one of us more than the other. it was awesome.
my dad was a fan on taking us on disciplinary rides. he would for what would seem like hours in total silence, almost waiting for us to spill our guts. if that car didn't take on morgue-like qualities of stale air, lifeless movement, and spirit palpitations, then i was dreaming. it was crazy that then in the last 5 minutes he would ask one question and like a knife, would cut through my dead exterior to find a wounded heart. we would figure out why i did what i did. and resolve it. i went from boy to teenager in these moments, i am sure of it. learning to be honest with my brilliant father looking in my eye and seeing my failure.
another incident that filled my mind was riding in a car with my mom to go to Liberty. there was something crazy amazing about it. i had never been there before, nor had she. and we were just enjoying the quiet road early on a sunday morning. strange thing was that there were butterflys migrating. they were everywhere. it completed the surreal moment of adolescence fading away and me becoming a man.
then there was times of dancing in the car with a friend closer than a brother that bred acceptance (we were dancing to techno like night at the roxbury). we lost all of our dignity and totally were able to be the real us. or there was a time where i rode in a car to georgia/florida for spring break teaching me about how to talk to strangers (thank you laura) or how to be a clown (we fit 5 people - 2 guys, 2 girls, and an eric carlson, the original brawny man) in a VW bug. and then drove across the country with a best friend who showed me a lot about trust, fearless living, honesty and driving for that matter (my first long duration manual driving excursion). did i mention that we almost got chased by a green funnel cloud aka a tornado? well we did. or i could mention how a car ride was the beginning of the end of things for me. a car ride also used to be the best feeling in the world, riding to class with my roommate. i don't know what it was, but something about being in that seat beside them said so much more than what anyone was saying, especially in our laughter at our favorite morning show and devouring granola of all shapes, flavors, and sizes.
then there was a time, i hated driving after being in the car by myself riding home, and my life was changed forever. a helicopter ride, a week in the hospital, a few surgeries, 39 staples, a couple plates of metal, screws, and pins, and two months later i was officially a lame man, trying to pull himself back together from a wreck that changed everything. plans, dreams, basically life.
riding in cars is like a commentary of what happens or doesn't happen in life.
then today was like this: riding in my car on my way home from work thinking, i wish someone was in the car with me. someone to change the music, someone to talk to about nothing or everything. someone to just drive around with randomly. i was regretting not having taken a ride with a few people, but looking forward to the next time.
go for a ride. it might make all the difference.
-peaks out.
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