The car business is an abnormal way to make a living... am I right or am I right? {BUT}... I was smitten from the moment I walked onto the showroom floor at Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach... I was 17, attending LB State full time, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed... oh, and shy beyond belief. When my Uncle John asked me to be his assistant for a few hours a week, little did I know that it would change my life.
Now, I must admit... if I had started out at say, "Joe Schmo's Used Car Lot" things might have been VERY different. Ha! FJ was all glitz and glam to this Long Beach girl who grew up, well... NOT so glitz and glam. I remember literally cringing when the phone rang. I was terrified that the "fancy" clients would hear my tiny voice and mistake me for a 10 year old child... or maybe a leprechaun. I would exit off of Jamboree every day in my old Civic hatchback and marvel at the beautiful palm trees and perfectly manicured landscape. My palms would sweat every time I had to get behind the wheel of a shiny new Mercedes-Benz. A lot has changed since those days... I've evolved, the business has evolved... When my Uncle decided to leave, I didn't know where to turn... then a window opened. I spent the next 6 years really growing up in the {BIZ} with the powerhouse that is Jeff Cotton. Then, just when I thought that there was no room to grow, and didn't know where to go next, again... a door opened at MB of Anaheim. It wasn't just a door though... it was the passageway to my "happily ever after"... the reason for my being.
I guess what I'm saying is that looking back, I had no idea that I'd be where I am today. Those windows and doors were opened for me and led me to this place. There were bumps on the road, and I took a few erroneous paths... but had I not stepped onto that showroom floor way back in the day, I would have never come here and met the love of my life... there would be no Leyla who fills my heart...
Now, back to my point about the car biz being a crazy way to make a living? Being that Mike and I are BOTH in it, we simply don't get a lot of time away... ummm, HOLDAYS? What's a holiday? Once in a while though, Mike will get the opportunity to sneak away a little early. That extra hour together last night? Felt like a lifetime... We had dinner when {normal} people have dinner and the 3 of us got to lounge and enjoy the evening. I got the feeling that Leyla had for once gotten her "fill" of mama and dada time before she drifted off to dreamland. Needless to say, it was a good night...
This is why we do what we do as parents... we work til we're exhausted, we sing all the silly songs, we dance around with them in our living room after a grueling day at work, we swallow our pride... to see them like this. Peaceful, full of potential, and with the world at their fingertips... I wouldn't change ANYTHING about the road that I have taken...
aww such a sweet photo~~
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