A full and happy heart

By Robert Lake
Publisher
[email protected]

There wasn’t a dry eye in the place, including mine, when Dora Colvin accepted her award as the Company Equipment Driver of the Year at the Truckload Carriers Association annual meeting, March 14 in Orlando, Fla. Colvin, a highly respected driver for Contract Freighters, Inc., was featured on the cover of the April issue of Truckers News. Herbert J. Schmidt, president and CEO of CFI, described her as someone with a “get the job done” attitude and a lifetime driving record of almost 2 million safe miles.

Colvin is also known for her moving poetry. When she accepted the award, Colvin read a poem that brought her audience to tears, as she has done in the past at many CFI awards ceremonies. Here’s an excerpt from the poem:

I was told to speak from the heart, which I will regret before the night is over,
Because every time my heart fills up, my eyes begin running over.
A series of pretty good choices took me to Texas in ’63,
Where I found a trucking cowboy waiting not too patiently for me.
It was insults, not love at first sight, but soon love was a certainty,
Butch and I now have 42 years in as our down payment on eternity.
Before long I chose to be wearing boots, trying to pass 5 foot 3
To satisfy a silly rule set by the Kansas ICC.
As children graced our home, career changes were made to accommodate them.
Before we knew what happened, they were grown and we were alone again.
We chose to start a second life on the road again in 1992.
A truck cab doesn’t get too small when you find kind things to do.
We asked the Lord what we should do when our last job left us.
We were directed to CFI, and we went without much fuss.
A better choice it could not have been, as we found people who really care.
Great equipment has been a blessing, and good pay helped keep us there.
In accepting this award tonight, I must do it for more than just me,
I do it for Uncle Jim and Butch, the Lord and my company.
They have each helped me make choices that I did not foresee.
They’ve each provided opportunities that have brought great strength to me.
And now all members of TCA, I say to you before we part,
Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of a full and happy heart!

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No, Dora Colvin, we thank you for your gracious appreciation and the fine job you do day in and day out. The trucking industry is lucky to have you representing us from behind the wheel.