First off, my name is Burke Stanion. I am from a small town outside of Denver, CO. My parents have 10 acres outside of that small town called Strasburg, CO. I served all of my time in school there, ( K - 12 ) ,living there from the year 1975 - 1992. 92' I suppose would be a technical term, having moved out several times before that. But the official and last observation was in 1992. I am now 26 years old. I'll be 27 in May of 97. Kind of handy really, I never forget how old I am, because I just happened to be born on the even year of 1970. Simple addition from there. I have never claimed to be a mathematician. What's really cool is that my Dad and youngest brother are in my shoes too. I never forget their ages either. Every one else? . . . Well Sorry. I just can't keep it all straight.
Currently, and since about, well, the 1st of July, 1995, I've been living in the KU college town of Lawrence, Kansas. I fumbled around back home after high school and I got into a little trouble here and there, and had a lot of jobs, and a lot of fun. But, and it's a BIG BUT, turning 25 hit me like a rock on the head. I think turning 25 did the same thing to just about everyone. It was "Life Evaluation Time", and well, if you added up all the things I had accomplished in life that pointed toward my future's well-being, and the pride of my parents and family, well, let's just say, it didn't take very long to count em' up.
I distinctly remember when I was in the second grade. Every day when we would go out to "Recess", I would see this beautiful, bright yellow car. I guess you could say I grew up a pretty naive kid. I asked a fellow kid in my class "Kenny", what kind of car that was. Kenny knew a lot about cars. He and several other boys were always drawing cars and bragging about what they knew. These were the same boys who played football every day on the playground. They just seemed to have some kind of an edge over me at that point in our lives. I guess you could say I was the ugly duckling. I knew nothing of football or cars. In fact, to be quite honest, the loud TV football game on the weekends and especially Holidays always irritated me. I didn't like, nor did I understand the sport. I was much happier catching toads, or riding my new bike. Kenny and all of the other boys laughed and carried on that I didn't know that the car was a "Corvette",just as they all did when I asked if they would teach me about this game "Football". I wanted to know about these things and be "One of the Guys", but I guess maybe I just didn't pay enough attention to the things I needed to while I was younger. I was busy thinking of the answer to every one's question, " What are you going to be when you grow up?" I kid you not, while Mr. Winter ( My second grade teacher) was pulling his hair out cause I had no interest in learning my "multiplication table", I was seriously occupying thoughts of what it was exactly, that I wanted to be when I grew up. If you really want me to get honest with you here, and maybe a little cocky, I believe I was a little too smart for my own good. What I mean is that if I weren't such a perfectionist, and didn't want to solve the problems and come up with the solutions to the questions asked, I might have learned that Multiplication Table and still have wound up just exactly where I am today. Some how I always knew that this ( school ) was all just a trial run. Practice for the real thing. LIFE = what I'm going to be when I grow up. Seemed logical at the time that if they had already presented the question that belonged on the final exam, on the last day of my senior high school year, then if I could somehow find the answer I would have completed the test. RIGHT?
Well through all of our years of school together most of the guys started to accept me as a pretty cool guy, but I still wasn't One Of Them. I did watch closely from second grade on, and realized that what one of the things life was all about was, "When we would become old enough to drive". When we were just 12 years old Kenny and Kevin were bragging that they were building what they would drive just as soon as they got their license. Even Travis had a Hot Rod 55' Chevy p/u in the works. I have been known to make things out to be a little more than they really are, but it seemed to me that every one else had every thing in order, and I was still struggling with what I was going to be when I grew up. I have only metioned a few of my classmates names, but it sure seemed like the whole world at the time. As it turns out, (if my memory serves me) there were only a few guys in my class who actually had "Built" their own Hot Rod car to drive to school. Kenny had a 1966 Chevelle, and Kevin Built a 68' Chevelle, Travis had his 55' Chevy P/U, it was all stock, I think it was probably only a six cylindar, but it was nice enough for the guys I hung out with.Those were probably the only guys in my class that had built their own. But then there were older guys and younger too who had built nice cars. Oh wow, Todd had a Sweet 73 Nova S/S. Kevin's younger brother built, I think it was a 63' Chevy P/U. Anyway, it was all extremely exciting to me. I felt like an idiot to ask any of them any questions about where to start or how they learned.
Ithought well this would be perfect.My dad has a 55' Chevy 2dr post. My dad said it was the fastest car in his neighborhood growing up. I asked him if we could build it and I could drive it. "NO" he said with a very sincere meaning. "I'll restore it again ""oneday"". One thing always confused me, but I caught on very quickly. MONEY!! Where in the world were my peers getting the money for their cars. Well at 12 years old it's quite obvious. Parental Assistance. 15 and 16, well some got jobs, but most of the time they were working on their cars, so how did they work? I don't know. By the time Eighth Grade Graduation was about to become a reality and every one was talking about what they were going to spend their summer doing, I was all shook up. Every one ( once again a little exageration) was building their cars that summer. I remember asking my Dad if he would help me build a car to be ready for when I could drive. The fact is that he was a very busy man just working all of the time to keep me ( and my brothers ) in pants that fit. I don't remember his exact words but to sum up the conversation, the answer was " we didn't have a garage and even if we did, we didn't have the time or the money. Any thing I wanted to do at that time I would have to pay for. And besides there were plenty of chores to be done, We've got Hogs out there having litters and they don't even have water, I don't understand why you kids can't do a little more around here to help your mother ,I'm getting really tierd of you having no resposibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...................................................... You get the picture. Every time you say " Uh humm. . . . Dad" you could fully expect a NO!
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