In the next several days I'll be hitting the highways again and I'm extremely excited! But nervous too. It's been just over three years since I drove a big rig last. Let me give you a little background.
In Spring of 2009 I was working as a 3rd shift stocker for Wal-mart. And I'm sure you know, as most people do, that it's not a lot of income. I had taken the job several months earlier to 1) earn a little extra money for our family and 2) get me out of the house. Around the same time, my husband was diagnosed with Metastatic Malignant Melanoma.
Now my husband was a truck driver. It was what he decided to do when he got out of the Army and he had told me it was his dream as a child to be a trucker. He was finally living his childhood dream. It was not an easy life and he hated being away from his family so much. But in the year or so before he had finally gotten on with a company that he loved. He was home every weekend and sometimes on Wednesdays as well. This illness though took that dream away from him. He was no longer able to drive as he was going through the chemo treatments and the numerous Oncology appointments. There was no way we were going to be able to survive on just my Wal-mart income. With much thought I decided that since he could drive any longer (which is how we paid our bills) that I would step in and do it.
And so...that was how my path to truck driving began. I won't get into the long story of everything that occurred between June and October of that year. Suffice to say that on October 20th, 2009 I turned in my truck...and my husband, Micheal, passed away on October 22nd. For the first couple of years I was too damaged by the loss to work a steady job. (You can read more of the time after the loss at The Melanoma Widow blog.)
Fast forward to now. A neighbor of my moms knew of my past driving experience and was in need of someone to drive one of his trucks. And so the offer was made and of course I wasn't going to turn it down. I've been feeling that itch to hit the road again. I guess once it gets into your blood the urge is always there.
And so...I'll be back on the road again very soon. I look forward to it very much. Nervous as all out though...it has been three years after all, however, I have no doubt that everything I learned will come back to me once I'm in that driver's seat again. It will definitely be an interesting ride. My previous experience was with a reefer (for those who do not understand what that is...it's a box trailer with a refrigeration/freezer unit on it to carry cold goods). This new job will be with a flatbed. MUCH different...but I believe in myself to have the ability to learn the job with no problem. ANYTHING I set my mind to learn...I learn and I do it very well.
And so begins this blog...a journal...as I start a new journey on the open road. And I welcome you to ride along!
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