BooBoo's Big Birthday Surprise - Time Out #249

Oh, yes, once again, the wonderful element of surprise! Several times I have mentioned this frequently-occurring family trick, so, once again, I will let you, dear readers, in on another past event where our surprise factor worked perfectly. Our youngest son/child, Robbie, aka BooBoo (my nickname for him), aka The Prince (his mother's nickname for him), is the only one of our three (3) offspring born in Our Town. Oldest Michelle was born in San Diego, CA, and middle child, Allan, was born in suburban Birmingham, AL The children's car stories are certainly interesting. Michelle, for a variety of reasons, really did not begin her legal driving activities until after age 16. Allan's vehicle, we purchased, was a clunker. It enabled him to merely putt around Our Town, barely getting him from point a to point b. Their younger brother, Robbie, however, didn't have to "suffer" like they did back in the day, mostly due to the fact he was the youngest. This fact, of course, got Robbie extra perks during his growing up years, deserving or not? As parents, we tried to treat all 3 of our bunch the same, but occasionally our best plans went astray. Those of you out there who are parents certainly know exactly what I just said. Simply put, some things in life, dear children, are not fair! So, Mr. Robbie was a Stillwater Public School student, and mostly did the right things in his life during the school year, 1998-99. Because his father has always been a "car guy", I began my hunt for a vehicle for him months before he marked his 16th birthday in late March,1999. Since driver's education was not readily available in the Stillwater Public Schools then, my bride, Ms. Debbie, and I took him and a best friend to Edmond to a private driving school for some of their professional instruction. I also let Robbie drive occasionally with me around our quiet neighborhood, teaching him a few of the easiest driving skills to learn. I vividly remember the first time I ever allowed him to drive with me. We were on the vast National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, WY. During a beautiful weather day there, I drove our rental car to a very remote location on the east side of that huge public land area, and let him drive for a brief time. That day, he drove along isolated, dirt/gravel roads, without any other vehicle or pedestrians present. He did well, and really appreciated all the times I helped him gain much-needed driving confidence.. Fast forward to shortly before Mr. Robbie's legal-age driving birthday. Lady Debbie and I had been on the north side of Oklahoma City "vehicle-looking" for him, and actually did purchase his first set of wheels. Since yellow is my favorite color, and I have always loved pickup trucks, it made 100%-sense, Robbie's first ride was a yellow, compact, Ford Ranger pickup truck. We found a late model, low mileage one in far northwest Oklahoma City at a Ford dealership, and bought it. The catch was, BooBoo didn't know about it, so the next time we traveled to OKC, we took him along with us, as the 3 of us were just "going to look at cars". My bride and I had arranged the entire encounter with the salesman we purchased the vehicle from during the earlier visit. Upon arrival at the large dealership, the four of us began walking around looking at their inventory. Parked in the mix was the little yellow truck. Well, the 3 adults could have received academy awards for our 20 minutes of acting, before the salesman actually revealed to Robbie, the little yellow one was Robbie's own truck! Oh, my Mr. BooBoo was both thrilled AND surprised at the same time!! As fate would have it, over 20 years later, one of Robbie's close friends who lives in OKC, now owns the same little yellow truck. Wow, the twists and turns of life! What a magical story?