10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

OCTOBER 2005 TRUCKER TALK
SEASONS OF MY LIFE
By Writers and Owner Operators Rod & Kim Grimm

I’ve written about women drivers before, but this woman deserves her own story. Debra Beard of Amarillo, Texas runs with her two Pomeranians – Ribbons, who is 14 and Buttons who is 9 – along with Ivan the cat who is 3. For the last year, Deb has had her own authority and calls her little company Cameo Trucking, brokering her loads through Everson Transportation out of Sunray, Texas. We have known Deb for years and have worked with her at several different companies.

Her champagne and hunter green Peterbilt and Great Dane spread axle trailer had new graphics recently done by Blast Graphics in Hartland, Wisconsin. Maryann did the graphics on our truck and trailer as well, and she did an outstanding job on Deb’s rig. The truck, which Deb calls, “Somewhere in Time” has Victorian graphics and, combined with the colors, looks awesome! An old carriage and lace-up shoes are just a couple of the neat graphics depicted on her rig.

The story really starts four-and-a-half years ago, when an accident put Deb in a position to help fellow truckers and friends Vern and Roxanne. With Roxanne in the hospital and Vern staying with her, Deb offered to drive their truck for them and do it only for the fuel and maintenance on the truck (they kept getting their settlements). Duke, one of Deb’s previous co-drivers, ran their Volvo by himself while Deb ran the Pete for Vern and Roxie. At the time, we all were leased to the same company, so authorization was no problem.

Three weeks after the accident, Roxie passed away and left Vern with a truck that he no longer wanted to drive. Deb offered to buy the truck from Vern and run it herself. All of the details were worked out and the Pete became Deb’s.

In August of 2001, Rod wrecked our truck near Lowell, Indiana, putting it in the median at the 222-mile marker on southbound I-65. When morning came, the wrecker pulled us out and towed us to Demotte, Indiana. Deb stopped by to give hugs and a shoulder to cry on.
Here I’d like to thank another friend, Pete Briggs of Mc Farland, Wisconsin. A heavy hauler for years, Pete was there that afternoon to load up our wrecked truck (the trailer, not ours at the time, went on behind another truck) and had us sitting at home the next morning.

When it was decided to fix the truck, Deb offered for us to drive her Pete instead of getting a rental truck. Deb had once been forced to drive a single bunk rental truck and knew how expensive and uncomfortable it could be and she didn’t want us to go through the same misery. So, while our truck was being repaired, we drove her Pete and she teamed back up with Duke. How generous and awesome was that! It also ended up being cheaper for the insurance company (which made them happy) and it was a whole LOT nicer for us.

When she brought us the truck, she also brought me a Vermont Teddy Bear wearing a custom-printed shirt that said “Illusion” (the name of our truck). I’ll never forget the look on her face when she got her truck back and it had Double JJ brackets and round headlights on it. That was our way of saying “thank you” for what she’d done for us.

Remembering 9-11, we were driving Deb’s truck that day. Running into California with Russ and Debbie Brown that morning, Rod and Russ had stopped in Ludlow because of an accident. A phone call from a friend told us of what was happening in New York and I immediately called Deb, who was in Erick, Oklahoma. She vividly remembers thinking, “No way!” when I told her the news. That is one of those times you will always remember where you were when you heard the news.

Late in 2001, through the recommendation of a friend, Deb had what she calls “the opportunity of a lifetime.” There were five applicants to pull the Columbine Marching Band’s trailer to Pasadena, California, so the kids could march in the Rose Parade. With her good driving record, a letter of recommendation from our company and an interview over the phone, Deb was the one chosen. They left December 26th, 2001, and the trip included tickets to Disneyland, Universal Studios and, of course, the Rose Parade. They also got to go see the floats being assembled in the wee hours of the morning! But the highlight for Deb was spending time with some great kids that had endured a terrible tragedy that occured at their school not long before.

After answering an e-mail that said, “Win money for your poem,” Deb got out a poem she had written years ago. The inspiration for the poem came from a real event that happened one April. Deb had just left the beautiful weather in Florida the day before, and, upon waking up the next morning (Easter Sunday) in Ohio, she found the ground covered with a blanket of fresh snow.

Much to her surprise, she got a letter inviting her to the Famous Poets 11th Annual Convention held in Reno, Nevada, on September 3-5. The letter also told her that her poem would be published in the book Great Poems of the Western World. She went to Reno and was awarded the Shakespeare Trophy of Excellence. Her 2005 Poet of the Year Medallion will be sent to her later because they were made in New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina messed up the shipment. Next year, Deb will return to the convention as an alumni and I’m going to try my hand at a little poetry and see if I can’t join her as a member!

Deb is still helping people today. Not too long ago, while going east of Columbus, Georgia at about 1:30 am, she came upon an accident involving a young girl on her way to Auburn for college. Earlier that day, the girl had been the maid of honor at her best friend’s wedding. The accident was a roll-over, and the girl was walking around dazed. Being the only other girl at the scene, Jen (the girl who had the accident) asked Deb if she would go to the hospital with her. So she took her truck and trailer to the hospital and stayed with her until her father arrived from Florida several hours later. Deb even stayed in the room with Jen while they stapled the gash in the back of her head closed. Deb gave Jen one of her shirts so she could make it into pajamas after she got cleaned up.

It’s nice to know even these days that there are still people who will really go out of their way to help others! Deb is a perfect example of what truckers (humans, for that matter) should be. Be safe and be careful, and help someone when you can, because you never know when it might be you that needs help. Thanks for everything you do, Deb, and congratulations for all of your accomplishments.

SEASONS OF MY LIFE
Seasons change as time passes by
Spring, winter, summer, fall
My life is one natural high
I follow the seasons, I see them all
I wake in winter, sleep in spring
From dusk to dawn I see everything
To see what awaits me, what will it be
Spring, winter, summer, fall, I cannot wait to see
The grass is green, the sky is blue
That could change within a day
I just really enjoy the view
Wondering what Mother Nature will say
Snowing in April, raining in June
The sun will set, the moon will rise
It’s like coming out of a cocoon
The seasons appear before my eyes