Don't Throw Away Truete- Class Assignment

Melissa Beckwith
10/9/2014/ Vail College English 101
Description Essay

Don't Throw Away Truete

In my grandparents' time, one fixed what was broken and made whatever wasn't quite perfect, work.  They made it work for as long as possible and when it was time, they repurposed it.  One didn't just go out and buy a new one.  That would have been silly and frivolous.  In today's world many have the mentality that one can just go out and get a new one, throw the current one away and forget all the time and memories with the thing that just doesn't fit in anymore.

Truete has seen better days.  She has way too many years of use and abuse. Each dent and broken piece tell a story of how I or another have wronged her.  She has carried a number of children and even held my infant daughter in a car seat while I did chores beside them.  The horses have knocked her over and I've run her over with a tractor and maybe even my truck once or twice.

It's hard to replace all the memories that I have had with Truete.  Truete was my third big purchase as an adult.  I bought my horse trailer, my car, and then I bought Truete.  She was $120, bright yellow, and had 2 wheels where all others I had used in my life had only had one.  She didn't tip over like those others and she was more spacious.  I was so excited about my purchase that my friends and family mocked my enthusiasm-- like that of a woman who had just purchased a diamond bracelet.

Truete was nearly perfect in her brand new condition.  Her color was bright yellow.  Her brand name stickers weren't peeling.  Her tires were brand new and perfectly spaced to keep her from tipping over while full.  Her handles were perfectly spaced for pushing her and later for holding an infant car seat.  What horsewoman wouldn't be proud and excited to shovel horse poop into something so grand?  Truete is my big yellow, two-wheeled wheelbarrow.

Truete, as I said, has had years of abuse.  I try to fix her best I can, but her many injuries are getting to be too much to repair.  Truete has accompanied my horses through a total of 10 moves to different barns since buying her 8 years ago.  She has been borrowed and not put back numerous times. She was even stolen once by a crazy barn owner and her drunk tenant.  My young horse tried to sit in her as a goofy four-year old, which cracked her.  My father borrowed her and broke both brackets that held her axle.  He also caused one of her tires to pop.  She hasn't always had the privilege of being stored in a barn, so the environment has taken it's toll on her appearance.

Truete has a hole towards the front of her now. Her tires are often flat and her one axle is currently held on by a combination of duct tape and bailing twine. Her frame is wobbly and also stabilized by duct tape. Her once bright yellow color is faded and stained and her stickers are peeling; Where it once read "True Temper Big 8", it now says True Te on one side. I'm afraid to put my daughter in Truete and roll her around the yard for fear that Truete might break and send my daughter crashing to the ground.  It is time to replace Truete in her day to day manure duties.

Recently, I found myself looking at new wheelbarrows and feeling sad. It is almost time to replace Truete and it is a difficult decision replacing something that has worked so well.  When I look at my old worn out Truete, I remember the days when I would put my daughter and her half sister in Truete and wheel them up and down the driveway like Truete was a ride at a fair.  I remember when my daughter was just an infant in a car seat and I discovered that her car seat fit perfectly on the handles, making it easy for me to keep her close as I did my chores.  I remember the first time my young horse tried to sit in Truete as a foal, not heavy enough to break her back then.  And I remember how I worked overtime to make the money that I used to pay for Truete and how excited I was to buy her.

I do have to replace Truete, but I do not have to throw her away.  My daughter and I have found over twenty different uses for broken wheelbarrows on pinterest, so Truete has many opportunities for new employment.  I intend to repurpose her.  My grandparents would be quite proud.