Auto-Biography - my dad's pickup truck

Photo from examiner.com, 63 Chevrolet C-10 Short Bed Fleetside

From an article entitled 1960 - 1966 Chevrolet trucks stand the test of time

My dad's pickup truck (similar to the photo above) originally belonged to my Grandpa Del Buckley. I'm not certain on the details, but somehow it changed hands when my Grandpa purchased a new truck for himself. It was my dad's first pickup and he loved it. When he brought it home, it was brown and had a few rust holes. But after my dad finished with it many weeks later, it was transformed from rusty brown to shiny royal blue with a creamy white top. My dad couldn't be prouder of his new toy.

Two interesting things about the truck. One, the floor in the back bed was wooden rather than metal. That meant you definitely had to watch out for splinters. The second item of interest was what happened on a special trip we took a trip to Kansas City, Missouri which revolved around a brand new refrigerator from Montgomery Wards.

The back story is my parents had shopped around a long time for the perfect refrigerator and finally decided on a beautiful brown one with double doors and a freezer on the bottom.  However there was just one slight problem--Wards didn't have delivery service to our home in Kansas. "I can get it," offered my dad, "with the pickup!"

He and I embarked that day with such high hopes. With the help of some guys at the loading dock we quickly had the refrigerator on board and it was tied down securely with ropes crisscrossed in several directions. About 30 minutes from home however, the unthinkable happened. We heard a horrible thud and screeching sound coming from behind us. A sick feeling came over me as I gazed out the back window and watched our new refrigerator bouncing down the highway. I was so sick at the sight I couldn't stop crying. I’m sure my dad wanted to cry, too. Can you imagine the turmoil he felt inside--what am I going to do? How will I break the news to my wife? Did it hit anything or anyone?

Fortunately, the only damage done was to the highway and to our new refrigerator. A number of cars saw what happened and stopped to help my dad lift the refrigerator back into our pickup so we could continue our drive home and break the news to my mom. Funny thing--I don't really remember what she did when she got the news. I can't tell you whether she laughed or cried. I guess I was too busy feeling sorry for myself, doing the only thing a six year old girl knows how to do–cry. And that’s what I did. Ultimately, I was the one who needed the most consoling that night. Luckily, the story didn't end there.

The next day, after a phone call to Montgomery Wards we returned the scratched and dented refrigerator and got another in it’s place. But this time my dad took my mom instead of me on the road trip in our blue Chevy pickup.