Built FORD Tough

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Well, today was tough. I recently listed Aaron's Ford truck online to sell. Well, my brother listed it for me. I held off for 8 months. I was dragging my feet because I knew that once the truck sold, I would have a really hard time watching it drive away. This truck was our first major purchase after we got married. Aaron needed a truck and was watching online to find the perfect one. He finally found one that he wanted really bad, but it was up in Oregon. The price was right, so he flew up to Oregon and drove this truck home to Utah by himself.
Aaron loved this truck. He babied it and kept it in really great shape. He was always out tinkering around in the engine or with the wheels or with the lift. He was all about having a really nice and tough looking truck.


Here is a great photo of Aaron with his truck. We were down at Yuba Lake with part of my family. Earlier that day, my Dad and Mom's motor home had gotten stuck in the soft sand and Aaron knew his truck was tough enough to pull out the motor home, so he attached a tow rope and pulled the motor home out with ease. Later, Aaron decided to launch the wave runners and told my brothers to let him know immediately if we started to sink. Well, as soon as it started to sink, my brothers told Aaron he better get out of there, but as soon as he started to pull forward, he sank in so deep... we weren't going anywhere. We tried for hours to get the truck out of this hole, but had no luck. Finally, we called AAA and they came to the rescue... so we thought. They parked their rig about 50 yards up the beach and as they started to pull Aaron out, they got stuck as well. He was in there good. So, they stopped trying to pull Aaron's truck and used his truck to pull them out and then they were able to pull Aaron out after a while.
Aaron loved telling the stories of his truck down at Yuba Lake. They were good bragging stories about his truck. Here is what it looked like after:



Recently, I was visiting with Aaron's friend, Austin, and he had a great story to tell me. I had never heard this before, so I loved this story and thought it was so funny. This is exactly how Aaron felt about trucks. This is what Austin wrote down for me:

' We were riding along in Aaron's truck listening to some old country song,
"I've Got Wanderin' Eyes. Yes I love the ladies, but my heart always stays here at home."
So I jokingly asked Aaron, "Do you have wandering eyes?" He didn't even hesitate, he said, "Not even close. I have wandering eyes for nice trucks and boats." '


This is the neck tie and a photo of Aaron Jr and me that Aaron had hanging from the rear view mirror. I hated taking those down.


As I was cleaning out Aaron's truck today, I ejected the CD that was in there. This was the last CD Aaron had put in. I told you he loved Chris LeDoux. The # 3 on it means that it is #3 of his Chris LeDoux CDs. To keep his original CDs nice, he made copies of all of his Chris LeDoux CDs. I think they go up to # 30 something.


This is just after they handed me the money and I handed them the title. They probably thought I was so strange. I was crying most of the time they were there looking at it. They had asked why I was selling it and I told them that Aaron had passed away, so at least they knew that. I couldn't hold the tears back though. I know this photo looks like I am happy and smily, but there are tears behind that smile.


They are driving it away here.

Ode was there to watch it drive away as well. I remember so well everyday when Aaron would come home from work, Ode would be at the door wagging his tail before Aaron had even pulled in the driveway. He could hear the roar of the deisel engine all the way down the street. I will really miss that sound. I always loved hearing it as he started it up in the mornings and especially when he got home.


As I was cleaning it out and while they were test driving it, Aaron Jr kept asking to go for a ride in the truck. As they were pulling out of the driveway, this conversation took place:

Aaron Jr: "Daddy's truck"
Leslie: "Yeah, that's Daddy's truck"
Aaron Jr: (reaching for the truck) "I wanna hold it"

It tore me to pieces.


I kept these floor mats. One funny thing about FORD floor mats is that Aaron even had rubber FORD floor mats like these in our Lexus. People always got a kick out of seeing them when they rode in that car.
I actually love the slogan 'Built FORD tough'. Anyone who knows Aaron knows how big and strong and tough he is. Friends and family were always telling stories about amazing things that Aaron was able to do because he just had so much strength. When I would hear that slogan 'Built FORD tough', I would relate it to Aaron. I even thought about putting that on the headstone for a while. It is just SO Aaron.
I know it is probably strange to some people that it would be that difficult to watch Aaron's truck go, but it was difficult. One of the most difficult things I have done so far. There are just so many memories attached to that truck. Watching it drive away, I honestly felt like another big piece of Aaron was gone.
One of the things that is the hardest about this is that Aaron Jr being so young doesn't have that many memories of Aaron, but anytime he saw that truck, he said 'Daddy's truck'. He would want to sit in it and play and just be in it. It is one more thing that Aaron Jr won't have as a reminder of his Dad. That is heartbreaking.

I love you Aaron...

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