Editor:
Thanks so much to Const. Cosgrove for helping us deal with the theft of our 2002 Dodge Ram 2500. You were kind and considerate, and we appreciate it.
For most of our lives, we have owned vehicles that were simply to get from work to the babysitter, home and to the grocery store or the park. This one was special. It was my husband’s dream truck.
He bought it in 2004 and was like a child with his first train set. He painted the bottom of the doors with a special paint to stop it from rusting. He changed the oil and greased it religiously … to the point where I thought it might slide right out of the parking lot as lubricated as it was. He put a larger exhaust pipe on it when the original broke because he liked the sound of it — me, not so much.
He bought a very expensive exhaust brake to put on the truck so we could haul the fifth wheel trailer safely as we tripped around North America the last year, visiting for the first time places we had never seen before. He just retired this year.
As you know, we live on our 42-foot sailboat at the marina in Ladysmith. We do not owe any money on our boat or the truck that was stolen, or the fifth wheel trailer we travel with.
We are not rich retirees; we are fortunate to have a pension from our working years and CPP and OAS. So tonight we feel really sad and very vulnerable. It seems true that at any time, we can be vandalized by those who treat the parking lots and streets of our town like a shopping mall.
Last year, we left a propane tank in the back of the truck (we used it for the barbecue when we camp). We usually put it inside the truck when we get back to the marina. We forgot one night. It was gone the next morning.
So tonight we are torn between hoping that the truck will be found intact and perhaps just out of fuel (we had just filled it, so the thieves are good for about 600 kilometres), and being scared to see it come back trashed.
I’m sad to say that I know you and the other staff at our local RCMP station face this kind of situation daily.
I’m sad to say my husband and I will not be travelling as planned to visit relatives this Christmas … we just cannot afford that now, and we don’t have a vehicle.
Anne and Doug Gilroyed
Ladysmith