A GMC Pickup Truck

My brother, Jason, was an extremely talented young man when it came to mechanics and vehicles.  He had his first car and had rebuilt the engine the first time by his 13th birthday.  He knew from a young age what he wanted to do with his life.  By the time he was 18, he was working full-time as a machinist and had completely redone his car - both engine and body.  He had bought a truck and rebuilt the engine and had started working on redoing the body.  His car and truck were his pride and joy.

And then the unexpected happened — he was severely injured in a work accident which left him in a coma and in the hospital and rehab for a year before my parents were able to bring him home with round the clock nursing care.  Because his car and truck were his pride and joy and so much of his blood, sweat, and tears were poured into them, our family couldn’t think of parting with them.  He never recovered from his injuries and was left significantly disabled for the next 12 years until he died from complications of injuries from the accident. 

After Jason’s death, the place that his truck was stored was no longer going to be available and with no place left to store it and a lot of work needed on it yet, my parents made the difficult decision to sell it.  They kept his car in a garage up until a few years ago.  Since it was too hard to think of getting his car back on the road,  they made the difficult decision to give the car to his best friend who had worked on the car with him, with the hopes that he would cherish the car as they had.  It was a difficult decision to let go of the car.

This past week, the gentleman that had bought Jason’s truck and over the past 13 years had made changes and alterations to the truck, but never finished it, approached my dad and asked him if he was interested in buying it back.  Interestingly enough, it was now being stored on the same dirt road that my parents live on, so even though it was not drivable it would be reasonably easy to move it to my parents house.  After a few days of consideration and research (it is even more of a project truck than when my brother was injured), my dad decided to buy it back.  

Now it is my dad’s project to finish the truck that my brother was working on at the time of his accident.   It was so good to walk behind the garage with my dad tonight and see Jason’s old truck sitting, looking a little worse for wear for sitting for the last 26-27 years, yet still with a solid frame and engine.  It was good to see the light in my dad’s eyes as he talked about his plans to bring the truck back to life, as Jason had planned, with some of my dad’s alterations and adjustments.  

A piece of Jason has returned home.