Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses

Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses
by Paul Nelson and Gene Nelson

After Fuelgrip’s song pick yesterday, I thought it would be nice to focus on a story about a trucker and his wife that has a happy ending. The flip side of the coin to Papa Loved Mama is Kathy Mattea’s Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses. Here’s how it starts:

Charlie's got a gold watch
Don't seem like a whole lot
After thirty years of drivin'
Up and down the interstate
But Charlie's had a good life
And Charlie's got a good wife
And after tonight she'll no longer
Be countin' the days

And by the chorus, we know that Charlie is deeply in love, after all these years:

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs from the all night radio
Then he'll spend the rest of his life
With the one that he loves

The thing I really like about the chorus (besides the sentiment, of course) is how it utilizes all sorts of numbers – both definite and indeterminate – to make its point. Each phrase contains a numeric reference, for example:

Eighteen
A dozen
Ten
Four
A few
All
The rest
One

It reminds me of those times in the book of Proverbs where the writer begins a list with a number, then tweaks it up one. Here is Proverbs 6:16:

There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up dissension in the community.
- Proverbs 6:16-19

Then, in chapter 30, the writer puts a whole string of lists in. For example, here is 30:29-31:

There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:
a lion, mighty among beasts,
who retreats before nothing;
a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
and a king secure against revolt.
- Proverbs 30:29-31

Before Ms Mattea’s song, the only numeric connection I made with 18-wheelers was “3-2” and “6 point”. For those of you too young to remember Smokey and the Bandit, believe it or not, there was a time when the different brands of beer were only available in certain locales. More amazingly, people would actually go to a lot of trouble to move them around the country. It was almost like osmosis: beer would move from an area of higher concentration to a lower one. Back when my wife and I were dating, her friends in North Carolina would always ask me to bring Coors when I came for a visit. In exchange, I would take home Stroh’s – and now I can’t figure why on earth we went to all that trouble!

Luckily for the story, Charlie and his wife have more important things to do as they reach their golden years:

They'll buy a Winnebago
Set out to find America
They'll do a lot of catchin' up
A little at a time
With pieces of the old dream
They're gonna light the old flame
Doin' what they please
Leavin' every other reason behind

And from Proverbs again:

Gray hair is a crown of splendor;
it is attained in the way of righteousness.
- Proverbs 16:31

The glory of young men is their strength,
gray hair the splendor of the old.
- Proverbs 20:29

All through the Bible, we are told of people who did some amazing things in their old age. For example, “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. (Deuteronomy 34:7)” Caleb told the crowd, “I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. (Joshua 14:11)”

Luke’s Gospel (in 2:36-38) tells us of “a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then had been a widow for eighty-four years. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

In Saving Private Ryan, Captain John Miller and his batallion have risked it all to find Private James Ryan. Ryan’s other three brothers were all killed in battles and the heads of command dispatch Captain Miller’s team to bring him home safely to his mother and family. In the midst of the last battle, when it is clear that Private Ryan is going to make it, even as most of his fellow soldiers will die, Captain Miller whispers something to him. Private Ryan leans in closer and asks, “What, sir?” Captain Miller replies, “James, earn this . . . earn it.”

In the film’s final scene, a now much older James Ryan and his wife are visiting Normandy and Omaha Beach. He finds the grave of his old friend and kneels, weeping. As his wife comes to his side, James requests of her, “Tell me I have led a good life.” She asks him, “What?” He says, “Tell me I'm a good man.” To which she replies, “You are.”

I am so thankful that our church is finding more and more chances to bring the generations together. This year, a couple of men in their seventies and eighties were mentors to a group of confirmands. A group of older women prepare lovely items for the new mothers in the congregation and present them when the babies are baptized. It is so encouraging to see people viewing their “retirement” as an opportunity for service.

May the Lord give them strength in their endeavors. They are good men and women, and the work of their golden years is good, too. And may He also shine on their “rest and relaxation.”

Eighteen wheels and a dozen roses
Ten more miles on his four day run
A few more songs from the all night radio
Then he'll spend the rest of his life
With the one that he loves.