The First Car I Ever Bought by Myself

Robert:

I had a blast living with you and Debbie for about a year and a half. You guys were newly married, yet you opened your little apartment up and welcomed me into your family. We hung out together, ate together and just enjoyed spending time talking about life. You two always had advice for me and tried to steer my 21 year old self in the right direction. You and Debbie were both working two jobs at the time, and so was I, but the way I remember it, we always ate dinner together. We didn't all try that hard to do it that way, but that's how it worked out and it was so much FUN!

I wanted to buy a new car. You, of course, loved few things in life more than new cars. I needed someone to go buy it with me so I didn't get a bad deal. You volunteered so fast, you would have thought they were giving cars away. I wanted a green Neon. We drove off the lot, rolled down the windows (I had power windows now, WOW!) and cranked up that brand new radio loud enough to blow out the speakers. We spent the next hour driving the 15 minute trip back to the apartment. The first song to come on the radio was "Gel" by Collective Soul. We were having a great time, both banging the beat on the steering wheel and dash.

Partly because of that day, and partly for other reasons, one of my favorite things to do when I am in Florida is to drive around with the windows down and the stereo cranked up jamming out some great 80's and 90's rock. Now, more than ever, I will think of you whenever I get the chance to do that.

FYI, I thought about talking about your awesome relationship with your kids, how devoted you are to family and your great attitude towards everything life has ever thrown at you. I thought about getting all sappy and sentimental. I guess I did a little of that on my previous post. I wanted to talk about how you always lived your life with so much energy. I really wanted to talk about how your smile extended across your whole face and into your eyes, like someone who just loved living. Lots of people will do that. This post is just a story about any given day, and how you just always found the fun and excitement in everything, even buying a car.

I love you and miss you, Uncle Robert.

Dena