“Mile Marker”

 Let me take you back a few days, I’m home from working my 9 to 5 trying to accomplish a few things on our household list. I figure the more I can cross off on my own the more time my trucker husband and I can spend together when he gets off the road. Most days I stay warp speed busy and try not to dwell on his being away but this particular day its gnawing at me. Now other trucker wives I’ve spoken with have agreed that you learn the unique sound of your man’s truck. They do sound a tad bit different and being around one over time you pick it up pretty quickly. They also agree with me that no other sound will get your immediate attention like air brakes when his truck pulls in. On this day I had the blinds open a crack to add sunlight to the room and lift my spirits. I caught a bit of motion outside the window and then I heard it. “Phssssh!” I knew right away what it meant. My heart jumped in my chest that tap of excitement and I headed toward the door. It can be tough on a trucke...

 Chances are if I told you that an industry legend in the world of trucking had slipped peacefully on down the road to eternity today, you would ask his name, well…. her name was Mirah “Lesa” Worley Hughes, but truck drivers knew her as YoYo. A true highway heroine, if you had the privilege of meeting her you might have been taken aback by her tiny petite frame but you better not have  underestimated her. That little lady could gear jam with the best of them. Under her trademark cowgirl hat sat a dedicated professional truck driver with over 40 years of coast to coast experience. A Tennessee native born in Lenior City back in 1956, no rig was too big and no horse was too coarse. While reviewing videos of her the past few days her soft spoken calm demeanor struck me, even while running in the first ever Atlanta Motor Speedway “bobtail" truck race, back in 1979, which she won, she held the hammer down and floated that 13 Peterbilt right past the competition at well over 100mph. ...

 Many people will not understand what I’m about to share, but that is okay because the ones who get it, “get it.” It’s Sunday, it’s sunny, it’s blue skies with blue in my heart. Why? He is outside doing his walk around, greasing the fifth wheel, thumping his tires, and carrying his bag out. I’m in the house meal prepping for his leave and watching out the window as he prepares to leave home…again. I know it’s not only me that dreads Sunday and is on edge. I work to remain positive and smile but sometimes, like today, it just breaks through. I’d like to say I make the perfect restful environment for him to prepare to sleep long enough to get up at 2am and leave out but sometimes my emotions get the best of me and I’ll pick a fight or just shut down entirely, say nothing and feel numb. I think these various responses are coping mechanisms for being in love with a man who gets paid to leave me. I know many couples struggle with excessive time apart, truckers, military, tow boaters, tr...