It is absolutely freeing to turn out of the driveway with all my necessities in the back of the truck and an open road in front of me. The imagination takes over as the miles roll by. I wonder where that road goes? I wonder what it would be like to live in that house? How far do they have to go for groceries? How do I get to that creek? Would anyone miss me if I didn’t show up and just kept driving? Wow, that’s a lot of fireweed! What am I gonna name this camper?
Throughout the twisty logging road, I rattled off “vintage” names: Gertrude, Bertha, Doris, Velma, Delores, Rosie, Agnes, etc. None of those seemed to have quite the pizzazz or spirit that I was looking for. Every time I step into the camper I think of my Grampa, my Poppa. I think it’s because he was a cabinet maker in the 60’s and many pieces that he made had the copper hammered hinges and handles. I also think about my Mamma, Marie. She and my other grampa had a slide in truck camper when I was a kid. They used it quite a bit and had story after story of their adventures. I started to think through some of my grandmothers’ friends’ names.
That’s when I remembered Mildred. She was a firecracker. A bit sassy, she was never afraid to say what she really thought, but with a sense of humor. She was under 5 feet… I remember passing her height in middle school. She had a flair for fashion but with quality items. Somehow I connected her in my mind to Amelia Earhardt, with scarves tied in an aviator style around her neck. She was tough too. She was one of the few people I ever saw stand up to my grandma. Raised her granddaughter after the unexpected death of her son.
Naming my camper after Mildred is not to trivialize her in anyway. The name Mildred means "gentle strength". When I step into the camper I settle into a restfulness that fills my soul. I feel a sense of freedom and the ability to tackle any adventure. The well-made curtains and visual flair of the turquoise stove and fridge remind me of Mildred’s fashion sense. Besides that, this camper is small but tough. But Mildred seems like an old person’s name, and this camper still seems to have a lot of years left. So I think we will call her by her younger nickname, Millie.
