1987

Have you ever imagined; what if somebody could see things through your very own eyes? Actually see through your eyes. If you set your own eyes upon a picture on the wall that this particular person could see that very same picture upon the wall.
I was driving our 1997 Ford Ranger home from work this past Monday evening. It was 96 degrees outside plus the heater was stuck in the “on” position. I opened the rear slider window and rolled down the driver’s side window. The truck has a hand crank window. A hand crank window, something that has been becoming more rare and soon will probably be unseen in all modern cars and trucks. I remembered my older Ford pickups that had the small triangular window on the doors. I would open the triangular window on hot days and let the air flow into the truck with a more blissful satisfaction than I was experiencing on Monday with the rolled down windows.
While driving East on highway 23 I was thinking about the repairs that would be needed on the Ranger. Somehow the dashboard needs to be removed in order to access the vent system which controls the hot/cold flow of air. I believe the vents system is malfunctioning and that is why the heater is stuck in the “on” position. I thought about that side window that is nonexistent on the Ranger. I thought about how technology and design have changed from 1977 to 1997 and then again from 1997 to today. How vehicle design has changed… how repairs have changed. There’s a lot going on here.
My Grandpa, Henry, was a man who enjoyed quality craftsmanship. He was a designer, an engineer and a craftsman in his own way growing up in the country and applying his intelligence towards quality in design. I have a rifle that he worked on. An average person would never know that it was a home garage craftsman that made changes to the bolt action and not a factory design. He was that good. He crafted a lot of things and he appreciated the automotive industry. He enjoyed talking about the various designs of cars and trucks.
I wondered what it would be like for him to see through my eyes on Monday. How he would be fascinated with the design changes from the days of his last year, 1987. How this Ford Ranger was manufactured 10 years after he walked this earth. I looked at the radio controls and the window and let my eyes settle on the spot where the small triangular window would be on most older vehicles. I looked at the new trucks that cruised by me along highway 23. I looked at their body designs, running boards, and fancy trailers.
I viewed the roads outside of Hinckley and wondered how things must look different since 1987, how the trees must have grown and the roads that have become paved. Through Hinckley I saw stores, gas stations, and banks that were not there in 1987. I wondered what Grandpa would think if he were to have a sneak peak at these changes not only in technology but in the aging countryside, new growth along with old buildings, replaced by new.
I thought about myself. What was I like in 1987? I was a young, fat, and healthy teenager with really no goals in my life. I hadn’t even hunted my first deer yet, something Grandpa was really skilled at. I looked at my own arms and my own face in the mirror. Is this what Grandpa expected me to be like?
Upon arrival at home I looked over my tractor. I quite frankly did that for my own enjoyment, my 1943 Allis Chalmers is something I simply enjoy as a hobby. I looked over our 1971 Sears SS10 tractor and I knew Grandpa had seen both of these items in a “like scenario”.
I visited my Dad. I wondered how many changes have taken place since 1987 with him. I admired him and thought about how proud Grandpa must have been with him. I thought about the big picture of life and how general and simple it is, yet change happens in fine details whether it’s in a design of an automobile or the wrinkles formed on an aging elderly Father’s face. I looked at Dad’s picture board on the wall, I stopped my eyes at every picture…because – what if. What if it was really possible that Grandpa saw through my eyes on Monday?