Aly-son, Made in Ida-ho

***Aly-son, Made in Ida-ho***
(#StorytellingSalemStory #999,997 out of 1mil:)

🎶So I’ve been travelling across the country—
town to town/city to city/State to State;
sitting down in random locations—
across this Nation— with a whiteboard in my haaand;
I’ve been asking pplllll:

“What’s Yor Story?”🎶

And when I was in Sandpoint, Idaho, a teenage girl with grease-stained jeans and a wrench sticking out of her back pocket looked and read what was upon my whiteboard; and then started to share:

⸻

“People think I fix engines because of my dad.
But he left when I was five. Took the good socket set with him too.

It was actually my mom. She ran the local plow depot—just her, a couple busted snowblowers, and a cat that hated everyone.

A decade ago- when I was nine- I asked her how to change oil on the pickup. She handed me a pan and said, ‘Don’t strip the bolt. That’ll be fifty bucks of regret.’ I learned more in that garage than in a dozen classrooms.

When I was seventeen; I kept a little notebook of every engine I’ve worked on. Not just cars—generators, outboard motors, one guy’s ancient lawn tractor that coughed like it smoked a pack a day.

It’s not just about machines. It’s about- watching & necromancing something broken come back to life- using nothing but your experience/YouTube/& some luck!

My guidance counselor kept asking where I wanted to go for college. I told her I wanted to open my own shop—one where the radio’s always playing,
one where no one gets talked down to, and
one where people can bring in their junk and leave with pride.

She blinked like I’d said I wanted to live on Mars.

But that’s alright.

Some folks dream with books.
Others dream with blueprints.
Me?
I dream in torque specs and engine codes.

I’m nineteen now- and I’m doing it.
You hear?
“I’m doing it.”
I’m saving up money to open up my own shop- cause:
“I’m doing it.”
And one day, I’m gonna build something that runs. Not just idles. Not just sits in a park. Something that goes. Something that carries my name- and goes: National.”

And I’m working on it; cause:
“I’m doing it.”
I’m working on it- from right here- out of Sandpoint, Ida-ho!
You’ll see my engine’s brand next to every Mercedes, Ford, & even Kawasakis!

My brand will go international- the moment you hear its name:
“Alyson” -Made in Idaho- coming to a driveway near you-
Forged by:
Alyson.
Made by:
Alyson.

You see my car on yo driveway?
Half the neighborhood will want it to-mo-rrow.

Ima make it.
Ima build it.
Right here in America.

Ima build my own brand and compete against the big dogs.
Ima make my car purrrrrrr~
as it rolls up next to yo gara-ge.

Ima roll up to my guidance counselor one day;
with my name on the grill;
just so I can tell her:
“I made it to- Mars & Back- on my own diiiiiime
‘-sisTAHHH!'”

⸻

And then she got a buzz on her phone, wiped her hands on a red rag, and jogged off toward a beat-up Subaru where someone was clearly already cranking the hood open.

🎶And III?
I stayed chilling by the edge of the mechanic’s lot, watching snow clouds roll in over the mountains, my whiteboard still asking:
“What’s yor story?”
waiting for the next person to walk my waaaaaay~🎶

(#StorytellingSalemSaturdays #Story #999,997)