The Beast II is CLEAN

Michael's Jeep Grand Cherokee has been home in Oklahoma for several weeks. It's sat out in front of my house with all of his stuff still in the back seat. I just couldn't bring myself to cleaning it out. To clean it out would be admitting he wasn't going to be home for a while.

The weather today has been beautiful so this evening after Alyssa and I got home from her volleyball lesson I decided it was time to clean the Beast II. All of Michael's cars have had similar names. One might ask why?? Well, he's still not figured out how to keep a car clean inside & out. He had a black Toyota Corolla his senior year in high school. I named it Black Beauty, he called it The Beast. He drove that poor car into the ground. Charlie & I told him before he left for Boot Camp to be sure to clean the car out. Well....guess what, he left us with a big nasty mess. Sunflower seeds, chips, etc, etc. I took everything Charlie & I could muster up to clean the car out. We got rid of the car and hoped that when he had to pay for his own car he would take better care of it.

Now...fast forward to Michael's graduation from Boot Camp and A School. It was time to head for his first duty assignment after he completed FMTB Training at Camp Pendleton. He came home and wanted to get a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I tried to talk him into getting a car that got good gas mileage like a Honda Civic or Accord. He knew what was best as most 19 year olds do so he bought himself a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a one owner vehicle and was in relatively good shape. Off to California he went. While out there he had all kinds of things done to it...low profile tires with big wheels, grill and lights changed out, and I think it became the "party jeep".

When I went back to help him move most of his stuff and his dog Roxie back to Oklahoma, the car was pretty clean inside. I was relatively pleased with him. BUT....when we went back a few weeks ago we found a Jeep Grand Cherokee trashed out in true Michael fashion. Miranda and I sucked it up and drove the nasty thing back to Oklahoma and it's been parked in front of my house ever since....until tonight.

I pulled out all of the clothes he had piled in the back and will wash and fold them so they will be ready for him when he comes home. I cleaned out all of the trash and then headed for the car wash. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed it until it was good and clean. Then I vacuumed it out. It now looks like a half way decent vehicle.

As I was cleaning it out I could have been angry with him, I could have been disappointed, but why? He's a 20 year old man who hasn't quite figured out that he should keep his car cleaned out....big whooptie deal. It's not the first time I've had to clean up after him....and I'm sure it wont be the last. I'm just thankful that God so richly blessed me with a son named Michael James Maples Jr.