Trust + Trucks

In which Cory went to Ireland for 10 days and Silas bought a car

(This is not an Advent story.)

Somewhere around 2019, I was standing in my kitchen trying to inspire a solid work ethic in my children when I heard myself say, “Whatever you save for a car, we will match!” This was not premeditated. I just blurted it out then immediately worried that one of them would take me up on it, when all I really wanted them to do was look for a summer job because that’s how former wannabe farmgirls are supposed to roll, right?

Cal worked every summer from age 14. Ruby had a couple of retail jobs that didn’t exactly inspire her passion, though I still haven’t recovered from losing the 40% family discount at Goodwill, where she worked for many months until soon after she encountered a mouse in the back room. (My kids did not inherit my wannabe-farmkid genes. Maybe one day I’ll tell you my top two mouse stories, but probably not because I’m still trying to scrub them from my psyche.)

Though all of my kids overshot my own adolescent work ethic, none of them managed to hold onto enough cash to pay for half a car.

Until Silas.