1980
I bought my first first house with the help
of my dad in March of 1980. Life was good. I was making killer money truck driving, had my own house, and had some good friends. Life was so uncomplicated back then.
However, I ended up getting in a scuffle at a bar one night in April of 1980. I was squaring off with this dude in the parking lot. As we were flogging each other aimlessly, one of his buddies grabbed me from behind and pulled me off of him. I somehow got my legs twisted up as I fell backward. I felt something in my left knee pop as I fell backward and hit the pavement.
I was feeling no pain from all the alcohol, but when I stood up to walk my left leg buckled. I was like, “What the heck?” I got up and took another step and the same things happened. I tore my ACL and couldn’t put an ounce of weight on my left leg. I had ACL, emergency reconstructive surgery about a week later.
Spiritually, I was no closer to God. And…I could probably say I was not further apart either. Although I do remember having a few conversations with a few of my friends about God and religion. I was always like, “Talk to the hand” with my hand representing a Stop sign as I shoved it in their face. I didn’t want to talk about the topic, but if I was cajoled into a conversation I was like,
- Nope! I don’t believe any of it.
- It happened so long ago.
- Thousands of years.
- Nobody can really attest.
- How do you know anything in the bible is true?
- You don’t know.
- It’s all a bunch of fairy tales.
We’d eventually start talking about things that mattered. I did my best to hide my religious beliefs and more importantly my religion for that matter. At this point in my, I had one Jewish friend that I kinda hung out with. I think he was more like me in that he wasn’t into the Jewish religion. I’m not sure he believed in God either, but we never discussed it.
1982
My first child was born in February 1982. I was 24 years old and wasn’t married. I’ll expand on this when I write my book, but for now, I’ll say this: I grew up with a silver spoon in my mouth for the most part, especially in comparison to my son, Scott. I felt guilty for not being in his life for the first 27 years of his life. Looking at his life now, I’m so proud of him and what he’s accomplished.
1983
Early in 1983, I ended up meeting a few new friends. Walt (Duke) White turned out to be a lifelong friend as we still talk several times a week. That’s a 40-year friendship and counting! There are several others that I still communicate with from back in that day mainly via social media. I had a comfy little life back then. I had a live-in girlfriend who was awesome.
I was still truck driving, but I could see that was probably not going to last as the company I was working for was heading in the wrong direction. I ended up hooking up with a big trucking company that was strictly an Aggregate hauling company. In August of 1983 I had a death-defying experience driving my truck (if you missed that experience check it out HERE) and my truck driving days came to a screeching halt.
Welcome To The Car Business
I had no idea what I was going to do with the rest of my life. Truth be told I was scared of how I was going to make ends meet. I went from making a good chunk of money to not making much. I was flipping cars here and there but I wasn’t making a whole lot doing that. But I did like the thrill of the whole process.
I knew a guy who owed a junkyard in Flint that bought cars at an auction for like less than $1,000. He would take them back to his junkyard, dismantle the cars, and sell the parts. My bright idea was to buy cars for cheap, fix them up, and sell them. I rented a lot. Got my used car dealer’s license and Diversified Auto Sales was open for business. Had I known what I was doing back then or knew anything about the car business I would have realized that I was sitting on a gold mind and would have made a big chunk of money. I had a perfect location in Flint.
1984
I had my first panic attack in 1984. I quit smoking cigarettes in November of 1983, and I wasn’t smoking pot anymore. The first panic attack I had I thought was having a massive heart attack. I felt like I was going to blow up from the inside out. I remember I was rolling on the floor one morning in my house.
It was horrifying. My doctor at the time suggested I change my diet as I was eating nothing but junk back then. It seemed to make a difference as the panic attacks seemed to subside. However, full disclosure, I didn’t believe in God but I was sure praying to someone to get rid of those panic attacks.
Conclusion
The early 80’s had its ups and downs. It was a great time to be alive and there was a lot of changes in the air. The one thing that wasn’t going to change was how I felt about God, religion, Jesus, and any other religious rhetoric.
