I can remember everything about the day I left my Father’s
house for college. I was a young woman of 18 moving from Salt Lake City, Utah
to the big, bad New York City. It was a sunny and warm Salt Lake morning and my
Father took me out for breakfast at Brumby’s, our weekly spot. We had our
‘usual’ breakfast, but we were quiet knowing this would be our last breakfast
together for a while.
On the way home my Father talked a lot about safety. He
talked about physical and mental safety. He talked about reaching out and
asking for help, but most pressing was travel safety. I was about to embark on
a 2000 mile journey in my 1966 Ford Galaxie 500, Freddie (named for his blood
red interior). We were both faking tough really well, but both of us were
scared. However, when we arrived back at the house for that final “see you
later”, my Father had prepared one last surprise. In the trunk he had hidden a
tool box and a road side safety kit.
It was symbolic, literally and figuratively. It’s how my
father operated and existed in this world. He always said, “You can teach
someone something all day long, but if they didn’t have the tools they need to
complete the job than what’s the point.” Believe it or not I still have both
the tool box and road side kit and thankfully I never had to use either that
trip. It’s remembering that day I drove off and the feeling of comfort I had
because I had the tools and I had the knowledge, which inspired this Car Care Clinic. ~ Article written by Vanessa O'Connell, Service Manager at Town & Country Ford of Nashville.
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