It was probably 1987. Travis would have been 11, Troy 7, and Tracibeth 6.
It was warm weather - probably summer. I was running somewhere on an errand and the kids decided - as always - that it would be more fun running with Dad than staying at home.
Tracie - always the quickest - hollered out "Shotgun!" So, she got to ride up front with me with Travis and Troy in the back seat.
By the way, Troy never got to sit up front. Travis and Tracie were always quicker on the draw. Occasionally, I would tip Troy off ahead of time to give him an advantage. Some of those times, he managed to get the front seat.
We were living on Thompson Avenue in East Liverpool, Ohio. My friend, Ron Kelly, once told me that East Liverpool isn't the armpit of Ohio, but you can see it from there. Our house was on the edge of a cliff overlooking Chester, West Virginia and the Ohio River. We used to keep track of coal barges going up-and-down the river from the cozy 'river room' on the back of our house.
That day, as I drove up Thompson Avenue, I engaged the kids in conversation - as I always tried to do. I started with Tracie and asked her what she thought she wanted to be when she grew up.
I hold the opinion that an important role of fathers is to help their children believe that they can be anything they want to be!
This was clearly a new thought to her (little wonder at age 6) and she had no idea. I suggested that she would make a great lawyer when she grew up; she didn't seem fond of that idea. Hmmm...I still think she would make a great lawyer: quick-thinking, intelligent and aggressive!
Then I turned to Travis with the same question. No hesitation on his part: "I wanna be a vet."
Before I could even ask Troy - always the admirer of his brother - he spouted off: "I want to be a convertible!"
Precious!
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