On the road from Sante Fe, NM to Taos, NM, Nadine and I passed some old vehicles that we just had to stop and photograph.

I wonder the old stories that this Fire Truck could tell if it only could talk.  I wonder how many fires it was driven to  or cars that were on fire that it had to put out.  It no longer is in working order, but there are stories behind the red paint.

What about this one?

It was a convertible and probably wasn’t used in the northern states, but isn’t it awesome to look at.  The white paint didn’t deter it from getting to the locations to douse the flames of a burning house or building.  The bumper shows the wear and tear this vehicle went through doing its job in seeking to prevent loss of life and property.

And how about these?

Both of these fire trucks have many stories that if told could hold our attention for hours.    These are fire trucks but have multitudes of stories that inspire us and give us clues to the rich history they came from.

Unfortunately in our society, we often treat our elderly just like these fire engines.  We park them into the retirement years and allow the grass to grow around them not thinking another thing about how they could enlighten us as to what they did in helping to impact our society.  We zoom by our elderly and pay little to no attention to where they are parked or what kind of stories they could bring to the table to enrich our lives.

On this journey, we have the opportunity to stop and ask some questions  to those our society has parked on the sidelines of life.  Unlike these fire engines, we have the privilege of seeking to find out those old stories that will cause us to appreciate the older generation and what they did to build a foundation for this and future generations.