The Secret Project

My uncle is a car junkie.  He knows probably everything there is to know about cars.  He races, he builds, he restores, he maintains.  It didn't surprise me when, at my cousin's bridal shower, my aunt (his wife) confided in me that he had a secret project he was working on, that his siblings (my mother and her two sisters) weren't supposed to know, but that she just had to tell someone because it was eating her up.  So I was let in on the secret, or more precisely, the existence of the Secret Project.  I didn't know much else other than that.  But knowing him, I knew it would be car-related and it would good.

The timing of my great-aunt's death was perfect (if such a concept exists) in that it occurred shortly after The Secret Project was completed.  She was my mother's aunt, which meant her siblings would be together at her memorial service.  So the morning before the memorial service, my uncle and his sisters gathered at his house for The Big Reveal: an impeccably restored 1947 International flat-bed pickup truck, emblazoned with their father's business name, from the family feed store era.

After two years of hard work (a huge understatement), the Secret Project was completed save for three small chrome pieces of trim which he'd reserved for each of his sisters to put in place, making the whole project complete.  The gesture was, in a way, a gift to them, and also a way of including them in the build of the tribute to their father.

Even though my place of employment is only a couple of miles from my uncle's house, I had to work that morning so that I could take the afternoon off to go to my great-aunt's memorial service.  As such, I missed out on The Big Reveal.  The truck would only be around about another week before being taken across town for longer-term storage, so I was lucky to find out my mom would be visiting my uncle this weekend to have him change her oil and perform a few other maintenance items on her car.  I was able to tag along this time and was blessed with a beautiful sunny day for taking photos of the truck.  Here are a few:

The Secret Project: 1947 International flat-bed pickup truck

Original placard of instructions for driving the truck.  Sounds complicated.

The truck's grille, which is where the final pieces were placed by my mom and her sisters.

One thing I truly cherish from my mother's side of the family is the importance they place on maintaining close family bonds.  This is more than a restored truck -- it is a tribute to the family, to their father, and to his legacy.