Anyone who knew Tobin knew he was a car guy from birth. That was just the way he was wired – got it from his dad. “Vroom” may have been his second word. When he was little, he would lie on the floor and watch the wheels of his toy cars go around and around, and we would play cars, parking lot and traffic jam (shout out Houston!) like many little girls play Barbies. I’m not gonna lie… I didn’t understand Barbies, and I didn’t understand cars, but it was little Tobin’s peaceful place. When Tobin was first diagnosed with cancer when he was 11, I remember praying that he would live long enough to drive, as it had been his dream the whole of his young life.
Tobin got his license to drive just after his 16th birthday. Now, my mom, sister and I had always driven manual shift cars (blame it on one old Buick), and I made sure Tobin could drive one as well…just in case. He took his driving test in a stick, and the woman administering the test asked him why he kept moving that thing. He answered blankly, “I have to, to make the car go.” He was an excellent driver, and took loving care of his little Mustang, Boo, so when The Sunshine Kids were having a big car wash, and all of these super fancy sports cars showed up and no one around could drive a stick, they called Tobin. He came home absolutely stoked, having driven every spiffy sports car known to man!
I guess he got a taste for luxury, because when his tumor came back when he was 19, and he was getting ready to go in for yet another brain surgery, the number one thing on his must do list was to drive a Porsche 911S. He wasn’t yet old enough to drive a rental car, so that was out of the equation, but through his endless hours of research, he was able to get his dream car, “Hildy”. He only got to drive her for about a year before he left us, but I have a sweet memory of riding with Tobin, lamenting our sitting in traffic, windows down, tasty tunes cranked on a beautiful spring day, and Tobin saying, “Ya, traffic sucks, but we’re sitting in a Porsche.” Yes we were!
This year our t-shirt pays homage to Tobin, his love of cars, and sweet, sassy Hildy.
