Mr. Grimes
by Eric Thomas on 08/20/12
Like most boys around the age of 13 I was drawn to cars and driving them. For me cars were instruments that possessed the power to remove me from reality. All I had to do was turn the key, step on the pedal and in an instant all my troubles were behind me. At least as a child that's what I believed. Of course I didn't own a car and didn't have access to a car but Mr. Grimes had plenty of them.
Mr. Grimes was a neighbor that lived a few doors down from us and he had cars all over his property. Cars were in the front yard, the garage, the backyard, on the side of the house and he even had one that had found its way into his neighbors’ yard. Whenever I wanted to escape from reality I would choose a car that wanted to relive it's days of purpose, open the door, shattering the feeling that it would never be sat in again and slide onto the bruised, pocketed upholstery that many years before was as cool and slick as a stone in a river. I would insert my imaginary key into the ignition and my desire to travel became the engine that was going to power me wherever I wanted to go. The images of my destination would transform into the sounds of a powerful V8 engine and the rolling of radial tires on jazzy smooth pavement. These sounds would accompany my breathing to form a duet and play a soft, relaxing hum.
I enjoyed the collection of old cars owned by Mr. Grimes and I would silently thank him for having them. Several times a week I would see Mr. Grimes under the hood fixing the 2-3 cars in his yard that were still able to be driven and every time that I saw him he was talking about buying a new car to anyone that would listen. I found Mr. Grimes to be an object of curiosity. Here was a man that, by all neighborhood accounts, could afford a new car but he would keep repairing those same 2-3 cars. We lived in that neighborhood for a couple of years and Mr. Grimes never bought a new car. I can remember passing through that neighborhood years later and he still didn’t have a new car. I often wondered what stopped Mr. Grimes from buying a new car.
As an adult I see Mr. Grimes all the time. Sometimes he is old, poor, young, wealthy, Hispanic, Black, Asian, White, educated and non-educated. Mr. Grimes isn’t an individual; he’s a population group within society. I'll call this group the Grimes Population. I see people with aspirations, goals, dreams and they talk about these aspirations, goals and dreams to anyone that will listen just as Mr. Grimes talked about buying his new car. I have been around some of these people as more than ample time passed in which their aspiration, goal or dream could have accomplished. So I asked myself what kept these people from accomplishing their aspirations, goals and dreams? They had the time and resources.
The answer to why Mr. Grimes never purchased his new car and why the Grimes Population never accomplishes their aspirations, goals and dreams is in the cars that Mr. Grimes was always repairing. You see, Mr. Grimes spent so much time and energy on those old cars that he couldn’t see the enormous benefit of buying a new car. Those 2-3 old cars that he was always repairing and all those other junk cars that served as my escape from reality were the consumers of his mental real estate and the real estate of his home. Even if he were to buy a new car, where would he put it? His garage was full along with his front and back yard. He was unable to receive the new because he refused to let go of those cars that were beyond their point of usefulness.
The Grimes Population operates in the same fashion. They can’t accomplish their aspirations, goals and dreams because they’re caught up repairing relationships, careers and hurt feelings. They can’t achieve their aspirations, goals and dreams because their mental real estate is cluttered with old thoughts, ideas and emotions that occupy the space needed for new thoughts, ideas and emotions. The Grimes population can’t move forward because they won’t let go of the past. Are you in the Grimes Population? What aspirations, goals and dreams have you not achieved because you’re fixing and maintaining things that have long passed their point of usefulness?
Nothing new can be received until you remove the old that is occupying the space. Mr. Grimes is dead now and I would wager a substantial amount that a new car never crossed the threshold of his driveway. Will you remove all the old and broken cars that consume the real estate of your heart and mind and allow the new car to roll into your driveway before you die?
