June Writing Prompt

Gas was dirt cheap, so driving was our family vacation

A tale from a blue-collar childhood

Mom showing off her “gams,” the slang used for long slender legs in her young adulthood. Photo from family archives.

We never took family vacations — if Mom didn’t show up for her waitress job, she didn’t get paid. Dad worked shifts at the steel plant. Their vacation was not being on their feet for hours at a stretch.