I once knew a great man named Gene who used to stand by his 1989 Dodge Diesel and say, "A man ain't a man without a truck! And THIS is a truck!" This same man looked at me one night and said, "You see that guy right there...that guy's my hero. And if you tell him, I'll kick your ass!"
The guy Gene refered to as his "hero" was my husband, Dana.
Back in 2001, our family suffered a great loss with the passing of my husbands father, Gene, at the young age of 61. Although he suffered from Cancer, it was a heart attack that took him from us so quickly. He left behind a wife, 4 children, 5 grandchildren and one more on the way (our daughter Emma). He passed on the birthday of his oldest daughter.
For sentimental reasons, this truck sat for quite awhile on the 10 acres my in-laws used to share. As time passed and the healing process began, my mother-in-law decided it was time to let go and she gave the truck to Dana. My husband decided to let this gift inspire him to grow. To be the kind of man and provider his father always was for their family. You see, my husband, his brother and sister were not Gene's biological children. Oh they were his kids in every sense of the word, even offering them his last name, but never asking for anything in return.
With that, Dana decided to start his own business and expand his knowledge in the field of flooring and get his C-15 Contractors license. As a contractor, the durability and dependability of a diesel would come in handy. Not to mention the 8 foot bed is a necessity for hauling flooring materials.
The business got off to a great start and before you knew it, we were able to purchase a new home, a new vehicle for me and allowed us the freedom for me to stay home with our children (did I mention we had a pretty cool dog, too?).
As the story goes on, we are much like everyone else who has suffered loss in this economy. As the California housing market took a dump, so did my husband's business. He suffered a 70% income loss. I went back to work...Ha!...the irony...at a flooring company and we lost our house after 18 months of trying to work with our mortgage company AND not paying on any of our credit cards,
In February 2008, my father passed away and I accepted responsibilty as Executer. This left us making 7 trips to Portland, Oregon in an 8 month period for a minimum of 5 day intervals (to which the last trip hammered our family with the death of our beloved German Shepherd). Although we did not mind making the sacrifice, you can imagine the chaos it created for our already difficult financial situation. During this time, I received a cut in pay, then a cut in hours, then my job altogether (do we sound like a country song yet?). In the meantime, our beloved Dodge is taking a beating because we can no longer afford the maintenance. With 200k+ miles, "Betsy" now sits in the drive, unable to start. She has extensive exterior and interior damage that has left my husband with no other option but to sell her.
Reaching out to you is my only hope to salvage the pride that for 12 years has been Dana's.
You see, for 12 years now Dana has been the sole provider for our 4 children, 2 of which are not biologically his, but still his in evey sense of the word. Without this truck, he not only has to let go of the only physical possession that was once his Dad's, but find a new way to support our family.
I hope you can help me show my husband that every now and then, a person deserves a break!