The Shins - It's Only Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi7aVsmH_eo
The Son
It had been three weeks of planning,
preparing, and painting with the hopes that his wonder on wheels and his
talents to be a demo derby driver would result in a victory of becoming the
next, Anne Arundel Country Fair and the Nation-Wide Demolition Derby organizations,
V4 car class, winner. Days’ leading up to the main event was filled with
entangled thoughts of sporadic emotions that had begun to resonate into his mind
as the fear of being injured was setting in.
There was no doubt that he wanted this victory and a chance to prove,
that what he had said he could do, would be done. He had seen it done by others, thousands
of times. He had seen numerous drivers being carried out by paramedics due to
various injuries, but still there was nothing to prepare him for the first
impact after the officials blow their whistles and wave the green flags. At
that moment he would know, there would be no turning back for the boy in car 22.
She had always feared his getting hurt in
things he had done over the course of his youthful life. It was a hard journey
to watch her precious baby boy grow through the years. Days’ leading up to the
main event she was filled with entangled thoughts of sporadic emotions that had
begun to resonate into her mind as the fear of him being injured was setting
in. There was no doubt, she also knew that
he wanted this victory and a chance to prove, that what he had said he could
do, would be done. She had also seen numerous drivers being carried out by
paramedics due to various injuries, but still there was nothing to prepare her
for the first impact after the officials blow their whistles and wave the green
flags. At that moment there would be no turning back. On June 2, 2012 a 17 year
old boy would drive out onto the track and in the end, win or lose, he’d be
returning a man whether this mother was ready for this moment or not.
The Dad
As proud as proud could be a dad assisted
with the planning and preparing for his young sons moment when he would become
a man. This dad wishing he could have had his time behind the wheel, as a 17 year
old boy, lived in the moment through his son. The dad would do his part in the pit crews to assist his son with the his motor worries and would also drive the event tractor to pull stranded derby drivers off the track for the next heats. There was no doubt, this dad also
knew that his son wanted this victory and a chance to prove, that what he had
said he could do, would be done. On June 2, 2012 a 17 year old boy would drive
out onto the track and in the end, win or lose, he’d be returning a man, a
moment this dad had been anticipating for years and was ready for.
The Grandstands began to fill rapidly when
the gates opened at 4:00pm. The weather masked itself with sheer perfection to
trick people into believing it was a glorious fall Saturday afternoon on this 2nd
day in June. The smell of hamburgers, hot dogs, funnel cakes and barbecued
meats filled the air. If you closed your eyes, you’d think it was an event at the
County Fair in September. One by one,
derby drivers from near and far slowly made their way into the pit area to
unload and prepare their wonder on wheels for the most anticipated event of the
season – the 2012 Nation-Wide Demolition Derby. Each driver orchestrated their
own pit crews as if they were part of the NASCAR circuit with each mechanical technician
knowing what their mission was to keep the car and the driver on the track
until the very end. As
the event kicked off, pit crews and drivers, not of the engine class on the track,
would watch the talents of each driver, veteran and new, hoping to learn a
secret strategy to capture the win. The big boys of the V8 Class were first and
what a show they put on for the spectators.
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| What not to do - Drive up the back of another car and then flip onto your side. V8 Class heat |
The minutes felt like hours, and at one point number 22 had hit another car so hard when he commenced to disable a car with the back end of his car, that his helmet was knocked off and landed in the back of his car. The officials decision - Put the helmet on and keep going. We all were tense, our fingers and toes crossed as the six cars dwindled to five, four, three, two and then....
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| Proud Dad and Son Enjoying the Win |
The man does what he said he would do - HE WINS! Congratulations to my son - Ryan. I am so very proud of you and in my eyes, no matter how tall or how deep your voice gets, you'll always be my baby boy. All my love - Mom.
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| The Day after the Night Before |
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