I met Anne Hyde by sheer chance. My family and I were driving home one day when at a traffic light, Anne's truck stopped in the adjoining lane just ahead of me. Three things immediately drew my attention - First, this truck looked incredible, Second, it had a beautiful blue color and Finally, the license plate that read " Bby Blue". 

I had to get pictures and talk to the her. Luckily, she entered a shopping area just after that traffic light. I walked up to the truck to complement her and asked if she would allow me to feature them on my blog. Anne gladly agreed so I setup an appointment for the shoot. I met her husband Tony at the shoot too. He  was very welcoming and interested in the blog.

Anne has an incredibly inspirational story. For her, this truck is a symbol of independence, resilience, self-reliance and confidence. When Anne was going through a tough time in her life as a single mom, she went to nursing school at 46. Against all odds she completed the nursing course, regained control of her life and has been working as a nurse ever since. Back on her feet again, she could get back to the things she liked. One of them happened to be trucks. Anne's grandpa owned a truck plus she grew up with six brothers (and 2 sisters) so the love of trucks came naturally to her.

This is a 1971 Ford F100. Anne saw it at a repossessed lot near her parents house and just loved it. Everyone in her family loves older cars so she had to get it as soon as she could. The truck is mostly in original condition with only the consumables replaced. It is driven on most weekends for going to the church, grocery stores etc. Vehicles from those days are very simple mechanically so they are easy to maintain too. Other than the usual maintenance, it doesn't demand much. A vintage car expert named Larry in South Carolina helps take care of the truck. 

One interesting story about the truck relates to her husband, Tony. She credits the truck for them being together. He claims that he married her for the truck :). When she got the truck, it was missing the original radio and ashtray. The radio is hard to find but the ashtray is even harder. Tony got her the original radio as a Christmas present and soon found the ashtray too. New tires came as a anniversary gift. So you can tell they both love this car as much as they love each other (may be the truck gets a little more love, I can't say for sure though). 

Anne told me about her grandpa - Earl Minor, who she remembers fondly. He had invented the push button starter in the 1930s. He was himself very young at that time, only in his 30s. Sadly, he couldn't pursue his invention further since he was of mixed race and was hiding his identity. He sold the invention to Ford for just a thousand dollars. I wonder if he had more freedom, how much more he could have contributed to the world. 

Anne was generous enough to share her brother's contact who also owns a few vintage cars. I plan to reach out to him soon and document some of his stories too. Before I end this story with a few more pics of the truck, I would like to thank Anne for her time and wish her and Tony many many years of happiness with Bby Blue.