Ice Truck #11

Truck #11 is the one my husband, Dustin, used to drive when he was an ice delivery man. It's the one we spent a lot of summer days in. When our kids were small, I worked jobs that allowed me to be home with them. Dustin worked in the day and I worked at night. We never needed daycare or a babysitter. When Nick, our youngest, went to first grade, I got a job in the school cafeteria. While this was an ideal job for the school year, it left me with no work for the summer months. We were not eligible for unemployment in the summer, so I needed to find other work to help my husband make ends meet.

All the years he worked in the ice industry, I would go along on the summer holidays.....Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day were a given for him and I to go as a team. Once the kids were old enough to stay home alone, I picked up more days during the week for the whole summer with him. Usually it was Tuesdays and Thursdays and other days as needed.

Tuesdays were spent in Maryland. Thursdays were spent in Lancaster. When you deliver ice, you have regular routes and customers you see every week. Dustin is a very outgoing and caring person. Every stop he had, the people knew him and he knew them. He established relationships with the people at each stop. It was amazing to watch him. He knew what to ask as a lot of the people looked forward to his visits each week. He knew when this one was struggling, when this one needed to talk out a problem, when that one just needed one of his hugs. He knew when they needed prayer and sometimes prayed for them right on the spot. He took the time to get to know these people who were once strangers. The customers treated me well also, but back in the day, I had a jealous streak. Some of the women at his stops were quite smitten with his niceness. I could see through them, but he always assured me he was just being friendly. Dustin is one of those men you just can't help but like instantly. His genuine concern for people is amazing. I have learned how to love others by watching his example for 20+ years.

My job in the ice delivery business was to help him. I got to ride in the truck and when we got to a stop, lots of times I had to jump out and save the parking spot right in front of the ice box so he could back in right in front of it. This made the delivery much easier. But this job was not for the weak. I built muscles every summer. The skids of ice weighed 2000 pounds and Dustin and I would push the skids into freezers or unload the whole thing at once into the box. Other times we would have to load a cart with bags and take them into a store or warehouse.

I can't say I enjoyed this job.....or looked forward to it each day we went to work, but the days spent with him in that truck #11 are ones I will never forget. We would have such meaningful talks while driving. We would pray and I would read a lot of books (driving to Maryland takes awhile) and share with him what the words were on the page. We would sing to the radio together. We would talk about what our life would be like once our kids were grown. We would talk of things we want to do that night when we got home. We would talk of a weekend getaway to the campground or the beach once he wasn't so busy. Sometimes we got agitated with one another. Sometimes we didn't talk at all and other times we laughed. Sometimes we laughed so hard we cried. One time at a stop at a Turkey Hill, I was on the ground behind the truck and he was in the back of the truck. An older man was in his car beside the truck. It was a 90 degree day, so we were both hot. Dustin cut the end of one of the ice bags and dumped it on my head and back....without me seeing he was going to do this. Ice came tumbling down my neck and the back of my shirt. I looked over at the man in the car and his face was priceless. He was in shock, but all Dustin and I could do is laugh at the whole thing, including the man's reaction. Those times in that truck with him I wouldn't have traded for anything. Nothing could have kept me away from those summers and being his helper. While I didn't really enjoy the job, I did enjoy those precious hours with him.

When I look back on those summer days with him, I am thankful for the opportunity to have gone with him and experience the job he did all year. Most wives have no clue of what their husbands do on a daily basis, but I was fortunate to be right alongside him. By doing this I could appreciate his hard work and how he needed rest when he had the chance. He always amazed me though. As tired as he was, when he got home, he made time to play with our kids or take them to the park. He never told them "not now" when they wanted to throw football, play a board game, or play on the swings at the park. He figured he could rest later, but the time our kids were little would quickly pass and he had to make the most of it while he could.

While those summer days in the truck are long gone, the memory of them stays with me. I am writing this today, on Labor Day, because this day, in the past was the ending of our summer times in that truck. It was the end of a good thing, but we always knew we had the next year waiting for us. God is good in allowing us seasons of time to live this life. To experience and grow closer to Him and each other. I learned so much from Dustin in that time together and continue to do so. This season is over, but new seasons are always changing.....coming and going. God is in full control and knows where we need to be at what particular time. In those days, I needed to be right next to my husband......working together.