If I had to pick the 3 happiest days of my life as a teenager, one of those days would be a day I spent with my Uncle Mark.
I was lucky enough to get to live with Mark and Robin and Aaron for the first half of my senior year in high school. My dad found a '72 Super Beetle and drove it out to California for me so I would have transportation. This car was yellow and had a big dent in the rear passenger fender and it didn't have reverse. I had been driving it for a couple of weeks and one day Mark said, "Saturday we're going to work on your car."
Saturday after breakfast we went out and Mark showed me the best way to wax a car and make it really shiny. Throughout the day he showed me how to check the oil, how to change a tire, and how to change the windshield wiper blades. We took the tires off and he painted the wheels, we took the windshield wipers off and we painted those too. We vacuumed and polished up the inside and cleaned the windows. We sprayed WD40 on every hinge; he even hammered the dent so it wasn't as bad.
That day is such happy memory to me for several reasons. First, I worked hard and had very satisfying results, my car looked great. I learn a lot about taking care of my car and about my "things" in general; even if I'm driving a beater car with a dented fender, I can still take care of it and make it as nice as I possibly can. Most significantly, Mark taking the time to teach me and patiently show me how to do all these things, made me feel so loved and more important than I think I had ever felt before. It was a day that changed me for the better.
I was lucky enough to get to live with Mark and Robin and Aaron for the first half of my senior year in high school. My dad found a '72 Super Beetle and drove it out to California for me so I would have transportation. This car was yellow and had a big dent in the rear passenger fender and it didn't have reverse. I had been driving it for a couple of weeks and one day Mark said, "Saturday we're going to work on your car."
Saturday after breakfast we went out and Mark showed me the best way to wax a car and make it really shiny. Throughout the day he showed me how to check the oil, how to change a tire, and how to change the windshield wiper blades. We took the tires off and he painted the wheels, we took the windshield wipers off and we painted those too. We vacuumed and polished up the inside and cleaned the windows. We sprayed WD40 on every hinge; he even hammered the dent so it wasn't as bad.
That day is such happy memory to me for several reasons. First, I worked hard and had very satisfying results, my car looked great. I learn a lot about taking care of my car and about my "things" in general; even if I'm driving a beater car with a dented fender, I can still take care of it and make it as nice as I possibly can. Most significantly, Mark taking the time to teach me and patiently show me how to do all these things, made me feel so loved and more important than I think I had ever felt before. It was a day that changed me for the better.
Thank you Mark, for being much more than an uncle to me. I love you and I was thinking of you on your day. I hope it was a good one.
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