Lessons Learned from Dad by Brent Mills

Lessons Learned from Dad By Brent Mills

It all started when I was 15 years old. My thought was that the worst part about being 15 was waiting around to be 16 so that I could drive and get a job. My Dad, Mavin, had a company truck for work and not that many months before this time he purchased a new truck for our family. During that summer of 75 that new truck sat in the driveway just glistening in the sun. It had so many cool features and tech for its day. I would wash it regularly and polish the chrome and look forward to the weekends when Dad and I would go someplace in it. One day Dad was working late and Mom had gone somewhere and I had the thought, hey, I know how to drive the truck. After all my Uncle Melvin taught me to drive when I was 12 in his 49 Chevrolet truck he called the Lumber Buggy. Uncle Melvin was blind but he was patient with me and walked me through the process. We made several trips in the Lumber Buggy for lumber and landscape materials for their new home. I felt pretty confident in my ability and a bit cocky. Dad's truck was calling to me and it was an automatic so it would be much easier to drive than the old 49. All this time I knew that if I got caught by the law or worse by Dad it would all be over. The plan was hatched and I carefully considered all the ways Dad could figure out I had taken the truck. I would adjust the hub caps and disconnect the speedometer mark the driveway where the truck was parked so that I could return it to the exact spot when I returned. I thought it was a pretty good plan other than it took a lot of time to execute. I patiently waited for the perfect time when Mom & Dad would be gone for an extended period of time to put my plan into action. The day finally came the truck was still calling to me and I decided to go for it. I marked the driveway, disconnected the speedometer, and measured the angle of the logo on the hubcaps and then went for a drive. I knew that I needed to go where no one knew me so I decided to go up on Dimple Dale Road not that far from home. It was more rural then and not many people were around. It was a bright sunny day and I had the windows down and the radio turned up. Boy did I feel cool. I returned home and as quickly and carefully as possible returned everything to the position it was before I left. I went in the house with plenty of time to spare before Mom & Dad got home. I double checked my work to be sure they would never know that I had taken the truck. When they got home I was a bit nervous as they pulled into the driveway. I made sure that the TV was on and I was sitting there on the couch, being a good kid while they were gone. They walked in the door and Dad had taken about 5 steps inside when he turned to me and ask " Brent where did you take the truck". I could never lie to my Dad because he could see straight thru me. I told him where I had gone and he gave me a talking to about the law and the dangers and all the rest. I ask him how he knew I had taken it and he just said that he knew. A few weeks past, I wasn't grounded anymore and the truck was still calling to me. The process repeated with a few enhancements that I thought would help my cause. The results were the same except for my stiffer punishment. Again I ask how he knew. Again he told me he just did and he would not share with me how he knew. The truck continued calling to me and the temptation was to great. I made a third attempt with even more enhancements on my part. This ended with the same result except for now I was really in trouble. Once again I ask how he knew and he told me when the time was right he would tell me. Several years later on Cosette and I's wedding day Dad decided that the time was right to tell me how he knew when I had taken the truck. He had put a penny on the top of the tire. If the penny was gone I had taken the truck. Dad shared some other things with me on our wedding day. As a teen I would barrow money from him when I was in a hurry to head out with my friends. I would get some cash from the ATM and pay him back fairly regularly but to my surprise on our wedding day he presented me with a bill for over $200. Dad had kept a log in his wallet of every time I borrowed money from him and the amount I borrowed and every time I payed him back and the amount. It was a regular ledger going back several years. I was so happy when I was able to pay him back in full. Mom & Dad worked hard to teach us kids the right way and even though their ways were a little unorthodox to some, they have stuck with us for a long long time. These are just a couple of examples of how Dad always knew what we were up too.