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| I built this '53 Ford F-100 Pickup model built in 1993. Photographed and displayed in the November '93 issue of Car Modeler Magazine. |
I would like to share a little bit about my past and how model building was an outlet for me in good times and bad. When your world is turned upside down, I believe most people tend to gravitate toward those things in their life that bring them comfort or help them feel safe and secure. In one of the darkest times in my life, I found comfort in family, friends and model car building. In 1974, our home wasn't happy place to be. My dad and mom were having marital problems that only seem to be getting worse. My parents decided to separate and my mom moved my sister and I to Aurora, Illinois in December 1974. We hated it there, and to this day, I never understood why we moved there. My dad moved us back at the beginning of January 1975.
After moving us back home, things weren't any better, things got even worse. On Friday, January 18, 1975, my dad left for West Virginia to go deer hunting and my mom left to go out with the girls from the bank. I remember as we walked over to the neighbors house for a sleepover, I turned back to see my mom closing the back door and then she walked off the back porch and vanished into the darkness. That was the last time I ever saw my mother. That night tragedy struck our family as my parents both died as a result of their marital problems. My mother had brought another man to our house. (My father never knew that according to the police report.) My father came home and my parents began to argue. My mother told my father that she didn't love him anymore. My father shot my mother and then he shot himself. My sister and I no longer had parents. If that wasn't bad enough, the puppy my father bought for me got out and was hit by a car. That was a very traumatic experience for our entire family.
Looking back, I can honestly say that I am very thankful to God for all of my relatives and friends who loved and cared for us during that time. My grandparents took us into their home and life slowly started to move forward. The one place I found peace during those times was building model cars. It took me away from reality for a while. I remember my uncles and grandfather sitting down, talking with me as we worked on models. We talked about my parents and other things. Talking about what happened was great therapy for me. I always felt better after working on models and I'll always cherish those moments because they helped me through a very rough time in my life. Model car building has always been a great stress reducer for me. It allows me time to think about things and I always feel better afterward. Today, I enjoy model building with my wife and kids and we have a great time doing it together. It is a great hobby to be involved in! I love to share my love of this hobby with anyone whom God allows to cross my path.
