How does one articulate the realization of a dream come true? How does one reduce to mere words what can only be experienced by the living of it? I’m not sure, but I’ll give it my best shot.
First, a little background – always a good place to start. I was born in England in the small seaside town of Torquay, Devon to an English father and a Canadian mother. Throughout my childhood, my parents moved me and my brothers back and forth across the pond multiple times. The mischief my younger brothers and I got into was the stuff great adventures are made out of, but, truth be told, the memories I hold dearest are the ones created on Canadian soil.
Living in England now, when I was in my mid-teens, I stumbled across a glossy trucking magazine in the local WHSmith book store one typical gloomy, cold, rainy day. The title of the magazine was TRUCK and featured trucking stories from all across the globe. This one showcased the story of truckers driving coast to coast across Canada. I was never one to read anything unless I absolutely had to in those days, but this gripped my attention and wouldn’t let go. So much so that I read the story over and over until the magazine was dog-eared. I figured there was only one thing to do: I needed to get back to Canada, get my drivers training and license and then get myself behind the wheel of one of those big shiny trucks!
It took many years of investigating, persistence and research, but I finally did accomplish my goal. In fact, over the next 20 odd years I would cross Canada and the United States so many times I knew the highways and geography like the back of my hand. I loved the wide open spaces, the Rocky Mountains, endless prairies, driving through the Canadian Shield – all of it beautiful in its own way. I even took a load up to Inuvik, crossing over the Arctic Circle! It was a dream come true.
Enter a slim, attractive, downtown Calgary working girl. Well, she about turned my world upside down – in a good way, of course! There was only one thing to do – marry her and show her how to shift gears so she could drive with me. Thankfully, she agreed with the plan and that is just what we did. Driving school taught her all the how-to’s of driving a semi; I taught her how to stay alive on the highway. We drove team for about 2 years – criss-crossing the American continent. We had a great system worked out – because I had more experience, I did do more of the driving (usually during the night), doing the deliveries, pickups, fuelling, etc. She would drive a good long shift during the day, took care of paperwork, making meals, etc. Four to five times a week, would would take advantage of local gyms to work out, get some cardio exercise and grab a shower. We loved it.
