FIXTITLE Donna Graham.docx

REINVENTED,

STARTING FROM THE INSIDE

The Story

Of

Donna Graham

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book and found yourself connected to one of the characters? As if you can relate to their circumstances and you are able to understand them on a personal level. Maybe you have a close friend or relative that shares a similar upbringing or the two of you have a common ground in your history as one in the same. I think everybody can identify with another person’s background in some way.

Let’s say growing up with hard working, soft-spoken parents as an only child led to a life of determination, topped with patience. I guarantee if this personality bumped into another of comparable times, the two would recognize each other’s strong points and it would automatically form an unplanned bond between the two individuals, simply because they can relate.

It’s nothing for me to talk on the phone to complete strangers on a daily basis and not think anything about it. I’ll admit, my favorite conversations that I enjoy the most is when the other caller is just as engaged in our talk as I am. As I dialed Donna Graham’s cell phone number and listened for ring number three, I heard a voice come on the line. She wasn’t loud, like I interrupted her. Just a simple, “Hello?” We spoke for a quick minute and she told me to give her a little bit so that she could get settled. On our second call, she was comfortable speaking with me, like I was a distant cousin calling to catch up. It wasn’t like pulling teeth, trying to get her to open up and I didn’t want to gouge my eyes out from hearing her boast about herself the entire time. Our talk was effortless in a way that was almost too easy. I think a part that played in to it was, I felt like I already knew her. She was a stay at home mother (with her dreams on pause), raising three sons and spending the majority of her life pouring herself into the lives of her family.

Donna’s parents raised their six children in the suburbs of Indianapolis. She was the third to come along in October of 1952. As I dig in with questions, I’m curious about this large family. I mean, with six kids you can start a band or an entire co-ed basketball team if you wanted. We’re talking sixty to seventy years ago, what were kids able to do for fun? Donna laughs and explains, “I had an older brother and then three younger than me, and so anything that they did…I did! I was such a tom-boy. I was climbing trees, building forts, anything that let me get dirty.” On days that Donna had to stay inside, she turned to drawing as an outlet. “I loved artwork. I’d draw horses, trees, birds and sometimes portraits of my brothers if I could get them to sit still long enough.” Later down the road she attended Junior college in hopes of becoming a commercial artist. That was before the demands of motherhood set in and her goal turned into what seemed like an imagination. Her mother waited tables, while her father worked in security. He was the directory of a guard service at a local warehouse. You can hear the tenderness in her respect as she speaks of her parents. If you look close enough, you’ll find an underlying value passed on from one mother to the next; family first.

In her early teen years, she was still doing the typical kid activities. From roller skating with friends to checking out the latest movie at the drive-in theater. At thirteen she scored her first paying job. “I’ll never forget it! At the time we were living outside of Indianapolis and our neighbors had fifteen acres of soy bean fields. The only thing was, the year before they grew corn and it was still trying to come up. The corn was growing into the soy beans. So my brothers and I pulled up the corn stocks for three whole days and were paid fifteen whopping dollars. I thought I was rich!” Her first official job wasn’t until five years later, after she graduated high school in 1969.

Just before her eighteenth birthday, Donna tied the knot and soon after the newlyweds started a family. With a baby on the way, Donna knew the next step was inevitable. She began looking for a way to bring in more income. “A girl friend of mine was working at a cabinet factory and told me to come put an application in. I worked there for about a year, putting laminate on the sides and edges of cabinets.” Her oldest son, Jerry Wayne was born the following June in 1970. Almost four years later Jerry was joined by his brother, Kevin Robert. She was six months pregnant with Kevin when she and her family uprooted and followed her parents down to Florida. Being a daddy’s girl, Donna felt the decision to move was a given. With her hands full, Donna shifted all of her attention to the boys and put work on the back burner. Anybody in their right mind knows that being a stay at home wife and mother is no easy task.

In 1978, Donna decided to turn a new leaf and add the role of being a single mother to her résumé. For the next couple of years, it remained just her and the boys. She eventually began to date again and met a man that she married six years later. Before settling down, Donna started her own small business called, Donna’s Yacht Maintenance in Tampa. When she first started it was just her. Then she brought one of her brothers and a sister-in-law on board. She continued to work the business until 1986 when her third son, Benjamin Thomas was born that July. Her husband chose to leave his job and take over her business.

For the next ten years, Donna was back at home raising her sons the best way she knew how; totally hands on. In 1992, things took a turn for the worst. Donna’s father had a stroke. Six weeks later that May he had another stroke that took his life. Unfortunately, given the bad timing her mother also hit a rough patch. In the few months following, that September Donna’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The two women put the strength of their love and courage together and beat the odds. Her mother won her fight and became a breast cancer survivor. Shortly after, Donna’s mother opened a children’s clothing store in Clearwater that she kept in business for a couple of years. Between bouncing around playing chauffer to her kids, cooking every meal that fed the family (or as Donna puts it, ‘doing my mom-thing’), she found time to help out at the store too. On that high note, it tugged at my heart to hear Donna say that her mother passed away last year in July from pancreatitis. “She lived a long life…83 happy years.”

When her youngest turned eleven years old, Donna’s wheels started turning again. “I wanted to do something…I began thinking about our future and where I’m going to retire. That’s when I decided to do what I wanted to do…and I always wanted to drive.” I’m assuming that we’re all on the same page and know that Donna isn’t just referring to ‘driving’ around town to unload some steam. She’s talking about beginning a whole new chapter in her life by taking on the responsibilities of a professional truck driver. A job that she has never even had any real connection to. She simply picked out a career that grabbed her attention, challenged her physically and she made that idea her reality. It was her time now! “I remember seeing an article on a woman that recently got her CDL, back in 1997 and I said to myself, ‘I can do that too!’”

Not too long after reading that piece, Donna enrolled herself in to trucking school at the Diesel Institute of Tampa and spent the next four weeks soaking up every bit of knowledge possible about driving a truck. She graduated trucking school with a score of 92 and had a job already lined up. The trucking company that she landed with had her moving in all directions across the nation, hauling various freight. Which she was definitely okay with, since traveling was another perk that she wanted to take advantage of. Her new employer teamed her up with a trainer for six months. When I asked Donna how that experience went, she responded with that same sincerity that she displayed when speaking of her folks. “My trainer was a woman too and to this day she is still my best friend.” After Donna’s training was over and she was free to run solo, she decided against it. She enjoyed her time running with her partner so much that they agreed to remain a team. The duo continued to run together for over a year and a half. Once her teammate left the company, Donna didn’t want to be in the truck without her and left too.

Within no time Donna found a trucking company closer to home and opted to give it a shot. After some time she didn’t feel it was a good fit. Thumbing through a trucking magazine, she was on a mission to find a company that would meet her needs, not just cut a check. Remember, the reasoning behind her change of direction from the beginning was to be able to plant her roots and eventually retire with a nice nest egg. In 1999, she landed a job with a trucking company out of Tampa, hauling dry good products back and forth between Tampa and Miami. The driver recruiter, William Payne helped get her situated. She was on the road six to ten days at a time. Life was good before an upset popped into the picture. The owner of the trucking company passed away at the beginning of 2000 and they shut the doors. As bad luck would have it, she was back to the drawing board.

Something told her to look up William and see which direction he took off to. He had joined the team at Davis Transfer Company, Inc. in Carnesville, Georgia. It was a Tuesday, June 17th after speaking with William, she drove up from St. Petersburg, Florida for two days of orientation. By that Friday she was in a truck with her first load of insulation back down to Florida. “My first truck with them was a light blue 1997 Freightliner with almost 600,000 miles on it and the antenna was a clothes hanger shaped into a heart.” After an inspection, they determined the truck was running faster than it was supposed to and need to be tuned down. She lets out a laugh, “I didn’t want to give it up. I loved that truck!” I’d say it was an upgrade, considering they put her in a brand new 2001 Freightliner #240 with less than 200 miles on it. “That’s the thing with Davis, they’re all the time putting money back into the company…always buying new trucks for us drivers.” In 2006, when Donna was recognized for reaching her one million mile mark with a ring, she was also awarded for being the first female driver to receive this prestigious honor at the Davis Transfer Company, Inc. In acceptance she told Gary Davis, owner and president, “I don’t plan on going anywhere else. I plan on retiring here.” Going on fourteen years, I’d take her word for it. Three years prior she entered a contest hosted by the company. There was an obstacle course designed for the drivers to compete against one another. Out of 140 drivers, Donna took first place. “I really enjoy driving for Davis. They’re a very family oriented company and I like how they treat me. I love the fact that I know everybody very well and any time I need anything, they’re always behind me trying to help.”

Donna still travels all over the country, staying out ten to twelve days at a time. Then home for three or four. It’s safe to say that she has well over two million safe miles under her belt. With my last question to her, I didn’t expect anything less of her reply. I wanted to know, “Why trucking?” She said, “Why not? I think it’s the coolest thing to be able to handle large equipment. I think it’s funny to see people’s reactions, like, ‘You drive that?’ It makes me proud to be a truck driver!”

When Donna is not on the road, she enjoys catching up on things around her house and yard work. Her real pride and joy lay in the hearts of her three grandchildren. “I love spending time with them!” Her oldest, Katlyn, now 21 lives in Tennessee and her other two are just a mile away. Matthew just recently celebrated his eighteenth birthday and Mackenzie is sixteen. Then, when she really wants to unwind, you can find her dabbling in her artwork. She always finds a way back to drawing.