Happy Mother's Day

A lot of us talk about the influence of our dads and our big brothers, or cousins and uncles-someone who had a cool car that they raced and let you ride in and got you hooked on cars before you were even interested in bicycles. I have to say that my mom had as much influence as any of the men in my life did in causing me to be a lifelong gearhead. She only went out with my dad in the first place because he was over 6 ft tall and had a badass, Royal Pontiac style supertuned, black Tri-Power 389 '59 Pontiac Catalina that won a lot of street races on the great highway by the beach in San Francisco. Not a quaint "Meet Cute" that people tell their kids, but that's what happened. As I grew up, my dad worked on his friends cars at home when he wasn't working. My street looked like Woodward Avenue on any given day-Split-window Corvettes, GTOs, Mustangs, Road Runners, you name it. Thus, all the boys in the neighborhood thought my house was the coolest place to hang. And it was. Someone was always springing for Pizza or Ice cream, and the kids were always included. After my dad traded off her '58 Impala without telling her-which did not go over very well-and traded the pickup for a 1964 GTO, he had to get her something she really liked. A 1967 Olds Delta 88 Convertible. It was bright blue with white interior and American Racing Torq-Thrust mags, and an awesome AM/FM Stereo system. All the kids in the neighborhood loved that car, and mom would always oblige any of the "boys" a ride home from school or to baseball practice or whatever. And she'd always run us to McDonalds or Dairy Queen after school, even if ruined our dinner. We always had the top down, the radio blasting either Credence Clearwater or the one-hit wonder "Me and You and a dog named Boo". She didn't even get that mad when I set the top on fire with a bottle rocket on the 4th of July. ( Of all the cars on the block, it lands on the only one with a fabric top. It wasn't my fault. Really.)  I got a go-kart for my seventh birthday, and me and my friends raced up and down the street incessantly, much to the chagrin of the neighbors. I got to see Evel Kneival in person twice, once when he still rode a Triumph and once at the Cow Palace. I went to drag races at Fremont and Nascar and SCCA Can-Am races at Laguna Seca, simply because mom and dad wanted to go. Grandma won't babysit? No problem, bring him along! I got to hang out in the pits with legends like Dino Fry and Dave Aldana, simply because they knew mom and dad. I saw Elvis in person, and I had Muhammad Ali's autograph-one of the last that he signed "Cassius Clay"-that one of my mom's friends got in Las Vegas.  I had the coolest childhood anyone could ever have. As I got older there were racing go-karts, stock cars, football games, wrestling matches, boxing and kickboxing matches ( I actually got to be pretty good friends with Ray Mancini, Dennis Alexio, and "Macho Camacho") Good enough that my friends and I could get into VIP only pre-and post fight parties at casinos. I even wanted to go stuntman school and professional wrestler's school at one time. Mom supported me through all these endeavors. One of the greatest laughs she ever had was at one of my son's Pop Warner Football games when a young mommy who I guess didn't realize she was a grandma-said-dead serious-" Do you ever get where you can watch them play football without cringing?"  "Football?" "Football?" Mom said incredulous- "Try boxing, kickboxing, and car racing."  "Football's nothing."  The young mommy was aghast. When my younger brother came up, he actually broke my records for tickets in his GTO. My mom hung in there with all of us and it paid off for her. My sister is a Bank President, my brother is a District Manager for a major restaraunt chain, and besides being a writer, I'm Assistant Service Manager at a GM dealership.  Were all citizens now. And my brother and I swear that he'll get his GTO and I'll get my 442 out of your driveway. Soon. But if I sell the 442, I am going to buy that "Macho T/A" I showed you on the internet.......and probably park it in your driveway!! Mastermind