Mourning...

Tom Magliozzi died yesterday. For some of you this means nothing. For others if I said Click and Clack the Car Talk brothers then you would know who that was. He died from complications due to Alzheimer's disease. Which then explains why the show went off the air two years ago. When the show ended it made me sad. When I heard the news yesterday about Tom's death I was sad again. Over a car show.

I discovered Car Talk in the early 90s. It was on Saturday afternoons. Someone recommended it to me but I can't remember who that was. At first I thought, why would I listen to this? I don't care about this. But after one time listening I understood. It wasn't about cars. It was about relationships. And bad jokes. And corny puns. Now, don't get me wrong, there was a lot of knowledge there as well, they really did know cars. But it was the rest of it that hooked me. Because for me it was like spending an afternoon working on my car with my dad.

Knowledge and corny jokes and car talk.

And I missed that when I left home. When you drive a beater of a car it needs work. And most of our cars were beaters. And when you have the smallest hands you get to work in the tighter engine areas. It's very important that you fish out that screw that was dropped or hold that nut still. Or whatever the very important job was that only you could do because Dad said so and then the car would work again.

My dad fixed pretty much everything. He was handy. He was also an inventor. If there was a problem that needed fixed he figured out a way to fix it. I've told the story about my first car and how no one could start it but me because it had a manual throttle. It was easier and cheaper for my dad to invent a way for me to open the line and close the line in the car than it was to replace the entire system. So he did. That was my dad.

So when I first started listening to Click and Clack I didn't just hear two brothers sharing car repair stories and bad jokes I heard my dad.

When they would tell the same joke every week and laugh just as hard as the first time. I didn't just hear them laughing I heard my dad.

When they were truly concerned about the people that called in and wanted to help them with their problems, but still found a way to make it fun and light I didn't just hear them. I heard my dad.

The show wasn't just about cars. It wasn't just about jokes. It was a way for me to spend time with my dad when I moved away. And a way to spend time with my dad once he was gone. I cried a bit two years ago when they cancelled the show. And I cried even more yesterday when I heard Tom had passed.

It wasn't just about the show. It was about my dad.