IF YOU EVER NEED A PICK-ME-UP, GET A PICK-UP! TRUCK THAT IS!

So for those who know me, they know I love my truck. I have always wanted a truck and finally in the fall of 2001 I got my wish. My own Ford Ranger! Now I know what you are thinking, Seriously Kyle, a Ford Ranger. I thought you were talking about a REAL truck. WEll I know that it is not a monster by any sense of the word. Heck it's not even a full size. It may not have four wheel drive or mud tires, but trust me it is a truck! I have treated it like a truck the whole time I have had it. I haul stuff, pull stuff, drive over stuff. Everything you would expect from a good truck.
Now you may ask me about my weird fascination with my truck. Well it all goes back to my childhood. I have had many memories over the years in trucks. My first memories of a truck goes back to an old green and white truck my grandfather had on his farm. I can remember this truck being so old that you could run your finger across the white paint and coming up with a white finger. After that one died, he got a Dodge Ram. Now not one of these new Rams with the rounded edges. This one was just a block laughing at concerns over MPG. I can remember riding in the back of that truck, feeling the wind blowing me about, looking up at the sky, and the thoughts of flying. Oh yes Virginia, there was a time when children rode in the back of pickups.
I can remember sitting in that truck eating crackers, spam, sardines, and an onion because it was too cold to be deer hunting. I can remember the feeling of coming home from a fishing trip squashed in the middle of my grandfather and my dad; falling asleep as the Cardinals were playing baseball on the radio.
The next big truck that I remember was in college. My roommate Drew had a Big Red Dodge Ram. It was a crew cab fit for young men in search of adventure. Man we got into a lot of fun with that old truck. I can remember a half a dozen different times either getting stuck in the mud or trying to get someone else out of the mud. I can remember showing up at church on a Sunday morning with wet waders, decoys, and a few dead ducks in the bed while we were changing into our sunday best in the cab!
I can remember my friend caleb's family truck, another BIG RED. This was the official vehicle of deer camp. Since it was four wheel drive we could drive that thing up and down the hill to our campsite. I can remember how happy it made me to see that truck loaded down with gear and coolers for the weekend. It always made me feel like an adventure was about to happen.
Then came my truck. My little Ranger. I have taken it offroad. I have had deer in the backend. I have hauled countless pieces of furniture in its bed. I have slept in that truck more times than I can remember.
Trucks are just useful. For fun or work. One of the best days was a day when I had to help my sister move some stuff to college. I had been deer hunting that morning. I had gotten a deer, so I had to take the truck to the car wash so that my sister would not get blood on her mattress. See how useful a truck can be! Hunting and moving in the same day.
When you have a truck, people become your best friend especially when they have something to move! I can remember when I asked Missy's parents if I could marry her. The next week the family was talking and Missy asked her dad if he was excited. He said he was just happy to now have a truck in the family. HA!
One time I was living in an apartment complex. One day I was just hanging out when there was a knock at the door. There was this guy out there that said, " Hey, you don't know me but my wife and I just bought a new desk. We need to get it home and the apartment manager said she new that you had a truck. I was wondering if you could help me go pick up the desk from the store?" I thought for a second and said......OK!
I have helped move countless friends. Missy and I seemed to have entered into quite a nomadic lifestyle considering we have now lived in three apartments in only two years of marriage. Yet with every move my truck comes in handy.
Well this past year my truck received the best accessory it could ever dream of...a new canoe. I cannot begin to tell you how freakin sexy my truck looks with a canoe strapped to the top. When I drive with it people just look from other cars giving me a headnod. As if to say, "There goes a man who is ready for adventure. I wish I was coming with you."
I know my truck will not last forever. I only hope there are more trucks in my future. I know that with each one will come all new stories to tell.