1974 Pontiac Catalina

July 17, 2017    TIME ON THE PORCH  

Oh, Father God, how blessed I am that You continue to allow me to travel just to enjoy life.  All the travel does distract me from this precious time on the porch.  How peaceful it is to read Your word and talk with You.  God, everyone can be a support and encouragement to the life of another person.   You are to be praised and worshiped as You are our life.  Thank You for this day.  May I honor you in a worthy way.

My mom loved to travel. She was the most fun to travel with because she made the best out of everything. Even when things did not go as planned, she just somehow made it work.. this is the key to a great travel partner.

When I read this “travel” flooded my memories of growing up. This Christmas my Aunt told me about one of her favorite gifts from my mom… the gift of memories. She wrote down some of their favorite times together growing up on the farm. I thought I should do the same for my kids. This is the story of the 1974 Pontiac Catalina.

There was one thing about my Mom… she did not care what she drove. Cars were not a big thing to her, so when she inherited a car from my great Aunt Nola, she immediately thought, “Awesome.” Me, not so much. It was the mid-80s. My hair was high, flammable and smelled like Rave because it was cheap and a worked like plaster.  I spent so much time on the perfect bangs that my hair started falling out. I remember the wind blowing and my bangs acting as a ball going side to side, this is why the Rave worked so well… they never separated.  I wanted to be cool, so I had homemade “units” and “jams” because we would never spend that kind of money on clothes. Summer time would come and my Grandmother would take me to Walmart to pick out patterns and fabric and I was very careful to choose the most fashionable print… usually involved a splatter paint or neon. My big Christmas present that year was a pair of real Guess jeans.   They were the light and acid washed. I was on the verge of cool.  Then this happened. We drove to Fayetteville, Arkansas to pick it up. I vividly remember that day, we turned the corner at the Piggly Wiggly, headed up the hill, rounded the corner and there it was… The biggest car I have ever seen. My heart sank. It was my worst nightmare… a 1974 Pontiac Catalina and it was yellow.  The memories only get better.

That car had amazing vinyl seats. You could turn a corner and they were so slippery you could slide from one side to the other. My best friend, Emily, and I played many games of “corners” where we would smash each other in the doors as you took a corner, unbuckled of course. I was mortified to be seen in this car; I would duck anytime I saw someone. Emily was just like my mom, and nothing phased her.  My Mom’s best friend, Eileen Elias, happened to be my best friend’s mom, and made for a perfect childhood. I had two moms.  As kids we never understood why they wanted to go on walks all the time, hide in the kitchen to drink pink wine and smoke cigarettes.  I get it now! Mrs. Elias was a single mom of three on a school teacher salary and my mom was contract so there was no money for extras.  Our vacations were always together.  For Spring Break, they decided we were headed to the lake in Arkansas. We would stay at my grandmother’s house and all they and to do was split gas. I remember a cooler packed with some sort of bologna and cheese sandwiches, chips, animal crackers, and knock off cokes. We headed out from Plano to Arkansas with seven people in the Catalina. Mom drove, Allison (Emily and Chad’s older sister) got the middle, Mrs. Elias in the passenger seat. The back seat was Emily and me, a big imaginary dividing line, her brother Chad and his friend.  We drove 12 hours in this car with 7 people. I have no idea how Mom and Eileen tuned out everyone, but they never seemed to be agitated or yelled at us in the backseat. All I remember in the back seat was constant fighting over “sides” and animal crackers.   The seats were so slippery it was hard to keep traction when you were throwing elbows protecting your side.  I still have no idea how they packed a cooler of food in the back, clothes, and seven people in a car.  The car broke down once we got to my grandmothers and we had to wait days for a part so we could get back home.  I was secretly hoping they would never get it started and that car would stay in Arkansas.  

Looking back this car was a great. I am not proud of my behavior as a bratty kid, but I see what really matters. This old car had so many great memories. At the time I did not appreciate it. I see now why mom drove this car; she was saving up for me to go to college and enjoy a pair or acid washed jeans at Christmas.  She never apologized for embarrassing me in this car (and she loved too.) She just said, “One day you will understand.”  I see the unconditional love you have for your children is bigger than a 1974 Pontiac Catalina.

My childhood was simple. Vacations were simple. Friendships were real. Life was hard, but we did not know any different. Work was not an option. Two Best Friends did everything to help raise each other’s kids and loved them like their own.  What I would give to have one more glass of wine with my two moms and drive that old yellow car!