Story and photos by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
About this time last year, we were still grieving the loss of Carlene’s mother. We were blessed to have her living with us for the past quarter-century. New Year’s Eve was particularly sad as the three of us always toasted the new year with a shot or two of the finest Sake. She had a fascinating life, and it was my pleasure to write her obituary. We framed it and dedicated a wall in the gathering room for Carlene’s parents.
I did meet her dad and am so glad that I had the opportunity to promise him that I would take good care of his wife and daughter. As it turned out, they took good care of me. I wish I had gotten to know him better; we would have been great friends. I believe he was a lot like me. He liked cars and was a jokester, from what I have been told. I only met him once. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the worst thing about getting old is saying goodbye to friends and family sucks, and each year comes with more grief. Last year was no different.
What WAS different about last year was the other side of the life spectrum. We got to welcome our first great-grandchild, Ayllah Jade. She was born in June, but we got to experience the lead-up by going to the baby shower in April. It was our first long trip since we drove to California and back in 2022. I wasn’t too thrilled about the drive, but this one was important.
We actually did three long trips this year, and I grimaced each time. But I did it because each one was important to me, and the thought of flying didn’t appeal to me either. Driving on today’s highways is just not as fun as it used to be. I wrote some stories about that subject. It was great to see and hold our new great-granddaughter. It was worth four days of driving to Arizona and back, twice, for that experience.
The other long trip to Pennsylvania and back was worth it, too. This time, I got to drive across states that I had not seen before. I used to love that kind of stuff, but it wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. I reconnected with my Studebaker club, and that part of it made it worthwhile.
The reconnection with the Studebaker world was another big part of this year. I gave up my seat on the Board of Directors when I left California and moved to Oklahoma. That was towards the end of the pandemic mess, and my brief stint as a Director of the Pacific Southwest Zone of the Studebaker Drivers Club was cut short. I had some ideas I wanted to develop, and I almost got them done before COVID became the buzzword and ruined everything.
When an opening on the Studebaker Board presented itself this year, I prayed about it and put myself out there. I had mixed feelings about it, so I prayed for God to open or close doors as He saw fit. So here I am now, the Director of the South Central Zone, and boy, did they ever put me to work.
As I look back on this year, I went from a homebound, retired lifestyle to a busy “what did I get myself into?” world of the working class. That sort of explains my last few stories, where the reality of my choices seems to be beating me up. That’s where the decision to pray about it and seek God’s guidance keeps me going. It’s easier to take when I can believe that I am on “a mission from God”. I trust that He has confidence in my ability to adjust to a significant lifestyle change. So here I am. God is good, and He has blessed me with a partner who was also an answer to prayer. Next year, I face three quarters of a century on my 75th birthday. That’s the nice thing about hanging around with these Studebaker guys. I’m one of the younger ones…
