Dee Thomas

My mother and I

My hero is a 37 year old woman who shows how appreciative she is for being a full time mommy to three beautiful children and how dedicated she is to driving trucks. She usually wears blue jeans; button up or baggy t-shirt and steel toed boots because truck driving is her life. This lady is 6’0 tall with curly dark brown hair and the biggest beautiful brown eyes you will ever see. When people look at her, the first thing they see is her nose that curves outward at the end to form a ball, also called a pug nose. Her smile brightens up a room within seconds. Dee, my mother, is a great role model because of her passion for driving and courage to be herself.

When Dee was a child, every day she was outside either helping or watching my grandfather work on vehicles. She has always been fascinated with vehicles and their parts. My grandfather is a retired truck driver; he has driven trucks since he was about 9 years old. He would give Dee rides in his truck when he came home for the weekends to visit or when he wasn’t on duty. He would let her sit in his lap and steer while he controlled everything else. She used to fly down the driveway on a three wheeler, and get to a certain spot in the driveway and make it slide sideways.

Since she was young, she has had a passion for driving trucks and feeling free. When she was younger, she used to race people down a straight strip for money or just the enjoyment. She loves the sound of vehicles. The engines are her favorite. She and my grandfather re-built a 350 Cleveland engine and had placed it in a 1970s station wagon that she raced in. The wind in her hair makes her feel like she is flying.

At 23, Dee discovered that she wanted to be a truck driver. When she worked for the state in Henderson County and Webster County, she would drive trucks (dump trucks) hauling rocks, salt etc. When it snowed, all the workers would go out early in the mornings to salt our roads that we drive on. She went from driving trucks for the state to driving for Ware Trucking in Providence, Kentucky. At Ware, Dee drives a dump truck that hauls black top to a specific location, back up in a paver and let the roller do the rest. On rainy days, they haul rock, salt, chicken remains, or wood. Back in the ice storm in 2009, Ware Trucking went around cleaning up the debris that had been left behind.

Unfortunately, she is discriminated against for being a truck driver because not all men agree that women should be able to drive trucks. She has been asked, “Are you a lesbian” by many men just because she is a female truck driver. Men think that driving trucks is only a man’s job, not a woman’s. But look at the nurses today, there are male nurses. Women don’t discriminate against male nurses so why do females get discriminated against for being truck drivers? She handles being discriminated against by teasing back or letting it slide and laugh. “Don’t let it get to you” Dee would often say. She keeps going because nothing can keep her from doing what she loves best.

As a truck driver, she is very knowledgeable in her driving. I chose to compare Dee to a blue truck because most of the time she is often looking at the sky and wondering why certain things happen, asking God for forgiveness and being thankful for what she does have. She can make the world keep turning with just a smile or friendly advice to keep others going. My mother may stumble along the way but keeps going and refuses to give up.