Good morning :)
Have you ever been minding your own business and bam?! suddenly you're taken back to some time in your life and are left... like. holy crap?! ... That was me this morning... I was loading the truck to drop off material and suddenly I went full circle in my life from 8 years ago to this morning.
Many don't know this, so I'm going to share a little of mine and Chas's life here... back in 2010 just after Tristan was born, Chas and I shortsold our first house. We had built it from the ground up, our first home, Avin was born there... and when Tristan was 3 months old we left it. Ironically days to the year this morning.
Chas had complicated pregnancy after another...and more than 2 didn't make it.. being bed ridden to ensure Tristan made it, we couldn't afford our home. At that time we were stressed to the max! Chas wasn't working, we had been on food stamps for a time, Tristan was barely 3 months old, I just started a brand new job, we were in a house we couldn't afford, we had over $100k in debt, we couldn't swing it. So.. we short sold our home to start over... Within a week of selling the home, we sold our truck, bought a new vehicle, and moved into a rental. man! throw in a divorce and death in the fam, we had all the life chapters thrown into one pile of shit! man! it was hell.
Our only saving grace really was our Truck.. no surprise either...we could barely afford that too. Fortunately so, it had some equity in it and we were able to sell it.
We bought it when we were in the start of the water feature business because "I" felt I had to have it in order to do business....which I could have survived.
With $4k in equity, we sold it... days later moved out of our family home, spent $2500 on the rental deposit, used $500 for moving expenses, and spent the last $1000 on another truck...
Damn it was a good truck!! hahah.. this poor 90 accord had ZERO clue what it was getting into when I got rid of the Toyota. Being $100k in debt and rebuilding our life... the work had to keep coming. So, me and miss 90 accord worked and worked for almost 4 years digging us out of our hole.
if you look closely there are 3 fountain projects in the trunk... ;) (was a milestone) My Grampa always preached "Delayed Gratification" ... something I would soon get a real life tester to my patience... always going through my head when I did this... "Delayed Gratification".. As the years trekked on... the projects didn't stop.. .and I was still without a truck. Thankfully the universe provided me with friends whom graciously allowed me to borrow their trucks.
my buddy Mike... long time best friend. I used him more than a few times... thanks Mike
and my life long surrogate older brother Kerry.. man I used his truck a lot too! Thanks Kerry! Then, my parents moved back to Phx... hahaha! and my Dad had a truck too! always a shoe in hitting Dad up before my punished friends... haha
But Dad had a life too and sometimes you just need to find a way to get the project done... insert Chas's car!
SLAM!
you can't see the other stack of bricks in the back seat... there was only so much room in the trunk. hahah! >D! Eight years later now... life is more stable than it was. That was a defining time in our life, and I am the person I am today large in part of sucking the bag of shit life presented us and embraced the suck with a smile.. a literal smile. Like having the face of craziness... this is gonna suck... it's gonna hurt... but hurt so good!! It was all "Delayed Gratification"... One never wishes for struggle for their kids... but I hope our boys have a moment that defines them and forges them to be stronger willed than they think they can handle.
Today, we're in our new home and not in the rental anymore...again, ironically, next Wednesday on the 22nd, it'll be 5 years here. We no longer have that mountain of debt as leading up to the pre-purchase of our house, we had to get that taken care of. Lots of work, lots of settling, and lots of telling ourselves no... not now. someday... "Delayed Gratification"
My GP was there with me for about half of that 8 year time. Hell, I think I even took him to Subway one time in Tucson in that 90 accord/truck I had... all the while we talked about such decisions and how the slow man wins the race.. just have to be patient enough to go through it..
Today, as I sit here typing these words, he is no longer here... but he is seeing me right now.. although not here, he sees the tear of joy and continued tears stream down my face of missing him.
WWGD, "What Would Grampa Do".. or "What Would Gary Do".... is looking at me as I soak in the past and the today.
So... What, would, Gamapa,do?.... well I know that if the timing was right and the purchase wouldn't hurt or negatively impact our family, he'd say go out and buy a damn truck already and quit killing your vehicles and bothering your friends and family!
With the council of GP in my heart and head and the universe telling me that opportunity is on the horizon... I might need to "get committed" (another GP'ism) and get one. So, Chas and I got committed and we bought "Optimus"
yes... his name really is Optimus. It was optimism that kept me going those defining years. And can you hear Optimus tell you in his amazing voice of awesomeness... "Delayed Gratification" Over these past few weeks I cannot describe how freeing it is to finally have a truck of our own. I knew I had one many years ago... but damn... never like this before. It is so motivating to me now and I feel encouraged to work and produce in a way I have never been before. I feel like I have so much more control over my time and can do things, help people, in a way that I never really had before.
In continued remembrance of my GP I got the license plate of his home built, handcrafted airplane he built in his shop when I was a kid. All aircraft has their own kind of license plate, his was, N142GL... since his passing my Bro Caleb had these decals made.
on my desk
in the shop
on my Dads truck..
So it being on Optimus as his plate too... makes perfect sense.
At times it catches me off guard... like he's making some kind of comment... "you might wanna do this, or have you thought of that... you know if I had it to do over again, maybe this"... hahah, it's endless.
So this morning as I was loading up the truck I couldn't be more thankful I had a truck to do so...
Then bam! eight years flashed through my head and into my heart in an instant...
but this time it was a quiet pat on the back... It caught me off guard so much, I was emotionally compelled to tell you our story.. thank you :) all good tears! makes you feel good to be on this planet :) thank you :) My GP's name was Gary Lichte.. pronounced Gary Light... so! in the spirit of a beacon of support and lifetime encouragement to do what's best, even if it's a slow climb, it's the right climb.. What better Friday pic than to have a Lichte House :)
Damn that's a good picture. :)
I'm not sure if you noticed... the tuck was filled with 4 fountain basins/pans... if I keep this shit up I might be bothering you for a trailer instead of a truck in short time! hahahah... baby steps. hahah
Have a grateful Friday!
-Josh & Chas
PS! and this is a serious PS! ...
if you need a truck to borrow, we own a truck you can borrow. Lord knows I borrowed a truck a time or two! It would be wrong to not share the joy of borrowing a truck, pressure free. :)