If you can't read the above photo, it says, "Sept. 3. 73 - Danna rode the cars at the carnival held on City Parking Lot by herself & loved them. Had to take her back next night."
Does this sound familiar? I had never read it until this week, and I felt my heart swell up with happy after I finished. I've read it a hundred times in the past several days, and I have smiled so very big because a mother always knows.
Twenty-four years after Mom wrote this note, I found my happy place. What do cars at a carnival do? They go around in circles. In 1997, my dear friend, Lori, invited me to Tazewell Speedway and changed my life forever at a place where cars go in circles just like they spun at the Middlesboro carnival many years before. I went back to that little piece of dirt track paradise the next Saturday and never looked back. And not long after I started working there, I met (and loathed) H.L. Smith.
Twenty-eight years after my momma wrote this simple, pink note, I received a call on a late August Saturday morning from the despicable Mr. Smith. The race track was closed that night, and Mr. Smith invited me to come to the Claiborne County Fair (which, by the way, included a carnival) where he was working like he had done since he was a kid. I didn't even know what the Fair Barn was much less where it was, a disgrace for anyone who had spent as much time in Tazewell as I had. Dad took me there as a kid, but I didn't recall him saying, "Fair Barn."
Since the mere sound of Mr. Smith's voice made my skin crawl, I drove to Knoxville, bought a pair of "Tommy" jeans (horrible fashion error), matching shirt, and new shoes (of course) to wear to the stupid fair. That's exactly what a girl does when she can't stand a man. Right? Sure. I remember being a nervous wreck, and I remember walking through that Fair Barn alone just like I rode those cars in Middlesboro as a toddler.
Before I found my host, I found Noble. That dear, sweet Noble. He had witnessed the race track battles Mr. Smith and I had exchanged, and Noble had protected me from evil. As I walked past the 4H displays, Noble smiled so big, shook his head, and knew I was headed for trouble...the kind of trouble Travis Tritt sang about.
Around the corner at the concession stand came my perfectly rotten companion for the evening. He was smiling because he knew he had finally broken me down. He was smiling because he was genuinely happy. He was smiling because he was going to get me on that Ferris Wheel at the end of the night, and my life would be changed forever.
So, my momma knew what she was doing when she took me to the carnival so many years ago. She wasn't worried about germs on the ride like so many worry about today, and she knew early that I was tough enough to get through any adventure on my own. She carefully guided me in the right direction, and then she let me go. With one simple decision to take a little girl to a carnival, she set me in motion toward my only true love.
Today is technically my birthday, but the stories of these past 40 years always lead me back to my mother. She knew me best when I was a small child, and I let her guide me. She knew me best when I was a teenager, and I shamefully resisted. She knew me best when I was a young adult, and I started to listen. She knows me best today, and I know am thankful she is and always has been right.
I'll be adding more madness here at hellofuzzy as the day progresses. The posts are set to automatically upload at various times throughout the day. Writing is what I do best, and many have known that since I was a kid. The fact that I get to write and entertain my friends on this blog brings me great happiness. Are my words a shameful promotion of me? Perhaps. Should you be shocked? Absolutely not.
In the end...nothing I write is ever going to be just about me. I'm a product of a lot of love from a lot of people for four decades.
Hang on tight while you read like you're at the top of a Ferris Wheel while feeling scared to death yet happy beyond happy, too.
The best is yet to come.
