Rekindling an old passion 🖤
I don’t tell people, and I haven’t really thought about it since my dad died, but one of my creative passions is working on cars.
I don’t think about my dad often because he was a jerk. He did teach me a lot though and he got sober when I was 16, so we built my first truck together. I didn’t spend time with him often, so we were kinda getting to know each other. He bought me a wrecked 89’ S10 pickup and we restored it together. I loved going to the junkyard, getting dirty, busting my knuckles and collecting Volkswagen emblems. He was a high school auto body teacher, so we did a lot of the work at school 😆 We discovered I’m a decent welder, painter and even did some custom airbrushing and lettering for shop project cars.
I went on to work at a few dealerships before I started taking up HVAC (I’ve had a bunch of different jobs) but I always had some stick shift beater driving through fields and I tinkering with. I had a couple trucks I did body drops, roll pans and wheels and cruised around in. I helped my dad when he needed it.
When I got pregnant with my son and started working on myself because I wanted to be a better mom to him, a lot of memories came up. My dad was very abusive, reckless and wild, so my mom didn’t let me see him much. Some shit had happened while I was in his care because he was drunk and negligent. He was also really racist and treated people like garbage. So I cut him out of my life. He only saw my son twice in four years and I didn’t see him again until the day they pulled the plug. I got to say goodbye.
My interest in working on cars is growing as I heal and let go of the anger I held onto. Like a lot! And now I have a garage! My first project is going to be a hearse conversion 😆 I’m keeping my camper van, I love that thing and I seriously might need it if shit hits the fan on the east coast. But I think a hearse has a lot of potential to be a really fkn cool daily driver! So I’m going for it.
If I have a means to fulfill a passion, I’m going for it. I feel like after 10 months living in a van full time, traveling across the country with a kid, there’s not much I’d be afraid to throw myself into, a bit like my father, recklessly 🖤
I don’t think about my dad often because he was a jerk. He did teach me a lot though and he got sober when I was 16, so we built my first truck together. I didn’t spend time with him often, so we were kinda getting to know each other. He bought me a wrecked 89’ S10 pickup and we restored it together. I loved going to the junkyard, getting dirty, busting my knuckles and collecting Volkswagen emblems. He was a high school auto body teacher, so we did a lot of the work at school 😆 We discovered I’m a decent welder, painter and even did some custom airbrushing and lettering for shop project cars.
I went on to work at a few dealerships before I started taking up HVAC (I’ve had a bunch of different jobs) but I always had some stick shift beater driving through fields and I tinkering with. I had a couple trucks I did body drops, roll pans and wheels and cruised around in. I helped my dad when he needed it.
When I got pregnant with my son and started working on myself because I wanted to be a better mom to him, a lot of memories came up. My dad was very abusive, reckless and wild, so my mom didn’t let me see him much. Some shit had happened while I was in his care because he was drunk and negligent. He was also really racist and treated people like garbage. So I cut him out of my life. He only saw my son twice in four years and I didn’t see him again until the day they pulled the plug. I got to say goodbye.
My interest in working on cars is growing as I heal and let go of the anger I held onto. Like a lot! And now I have a garage! My first project is going to be a hearse conversion 😆 I’m keeping my camper van, I love that thing and I seriously might need it if shit hits the fan on the east coast. But I think a hearse has a lot of potential to be a really fkn cool daily driver! So I’m going for it.
If I have a means to fulfill a passion, I’m going for it. I feel like after 10 months living in a van full time, traveling across the country with a kid, there’s not much I’d be afraid to throw myself into, a bit like my father, recklessly 🖤
