Month: December 2023

What is your all time favorite automobile?

I have been a Jeep chick since January of 1996 and in no way is that depressing. Nurses don’t get snow days so I like a trusty Jeep. Plus I am still driving a manual transmission. My dad once asked me when I am going to buy a grown up car. The answer was on the first day of never.

My first Jeep vehicle was a 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport which I named Jasper. I special order purchased it 20 months after graduating from nursing school. It was moss green with a tan interior.

My second Jeep vehicle was an Atlantic Blue 2006 Jeep Liberty. Also named Jasper but my daughter changed the name to Charlie when I gave it to her. I purchased this one in fall 2005. I told the dealer if he wanted to sell me a car he should find me a manual transmission and he did. I taught both of my kids how to drive a manual transmission in this car and gave it to my daughter after she got her license. My daughter had a fender bender in fall 2022 at 5mph, she didn’t even have her foot off the clutch and it was totaled. Literally only the fender was damaged. After having that old Jeep for 17 years it was hard to let that one go but I know it was God’s way of showing me my daughter needed a more reliable vehicle.

My current Jeep which I call my midlife crisis car is a 2011 Jeep Wrangler. I call this guy Maverick. He’s sexy and rugged and I love driving him.

All three of these vehicles have gotten me to and from work safely in terrible weather. I could care less about bells and whistles and fancy schmancy sports cars. Just give me a Jeep so I can go to work.

Share what you know about the year you were born.

I love the year that I was born because it’s the beginning of a decade.

The Vietnam War continued to rage on in 1970. Thank you to all men and women who served. 🇺🇸

The Jackson 5 was introduced on American Band Stand. The Beatles broke up. My husband was born. Apollo 13 attempted to fly their mission but couldn’t go to the moon because of an oxygen tank explosion. The first Earth Day is celebrated. Elton John performs in the United States for the first time. Christine Perfect (Christine McVie) joins Fleetwood Mac. (I love Fleetwood Mac) Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin died of drug overdoses. The 1970 Thundering Herd Marshall University Football team was killed in a plane crash. PBS becomes a network. The Ford Pinto is introduced.

In my personal history, my great grandparents were Sicilian immigrants. The last of them, my dad’s maternal grandmother died months before I was born but she did know my parents were expecting.

My dad received his draft notice for Vietnam when my mom was pregnant with me. He would spend six years in the Army National Guard and miss my birth because he was in basic training. My mom threw my grandmas out of her room when she was in labor because they were driving her crazy. My Papa Charlie was smoking cigarettes in the waiting room.

Do you ever see wild animals?

For the past 11 years my husband, our two children and our dog have vacationed in a mountain lake town. This summer, one night after supper my kids returned from walking our dog and announced they had seen a bear digging into the trash down the street. My daughter didn’t want any part of going back outside but my husband, son and I rushed back out down the road to get a closer look. We were probably within 30-40 yards of the bear. We carefully backed away and decided to return to the cabin when the bear noticed us, straightened its body and glanced in our direction.

The next morning, my husband discovered the bear on the bottom deck of the cabin walking up the stairs. He was coming up the steps. We stood there quietly to observe it. It was thrilling to be so close to a wild animal like that.