Your Turn: A Car Nut and Thanksgiving

In this submission of "Your Turn," V&R offers the holiday thoughts of Houston-based automotive enthusiast, Robert Edwards. If you are on Twitter, you may know him as @FastMINIRob and part of the V&R Collective during V&R Chat (#VnRChat), as well as other related endeavors. Edwards admits that he is a "certified car nut, or so my lovely and patient wife will tell you."

Therefore, this road-rallying, MINI-owning, British car-loving Houstonian kicks off this holiday week with his own take on America's holiday feast. Thank you, Rob, for doing this! Happy Thanksgiving from Victory & Reseda!

Cars and Thanksgiving are two things that in my mind should always go together.

My family would probably disagree with the last statement, but then again I am the certified, obsessed and neurotic car nut of the family. This Thanksgiving, I will be spending it with my lovely wife, wonderful parents, beautiful sister and awesome nephew. We have scheduled dinner to be at noon so that my sister can watch the Houston Texans pummel the Detroit Lions just after we eat.

While all of this is going on I am sure to be trying to get into the game and I know that I will really be enjoying the time spent with family. But, we should not forget Thanksgiving is so much more then family, food or football. It is a time to look back and look forward. It is also a time to remember the little things in our lives that we often overlook. Lastly it is a time to never forget those less fortunate then ourselves.

A long time ago when "Columbus sailed the ocean blue…" No, wait, I think I went back to far in time. On a more serious note, I would like to look back on the past year. The past year has been full of mixed events for my wife and me. On the automotive front things have been great. I have had the opportunity to meet some really awesome people and participate in some great events. I was able to do the Dustball Rally from El Paso to New Orleans, attend one of the the Mecum auctions as media and go to a Barrett Jackson auction. I have also had the great pleasure of becoming heavily involved in both V&R Chat and Motorama LIVE on twitter. Two great forums that are full of some of the most fun and interesting car people I know.

Looking forward, I can only imagine the great things in store for me. I already have plans to attend the 2013 Hot Rod Power Tour and hopefully my involvement in the automotive world will continue to grow. I even see myself possibly taking on an officer position with the Houston MINI Motoring Society that I am a member of. Who knows what the next year holds?

The past year has been good to me, as I am sure this upcoming year will be. For all the wonderful things that I have, and the opportunities to do so, there are those who are much less fortunate. I am thankful to have a full time job that pays well and be married to wonderful beautiful woman who is so supportive. I hope that we all can take a moment this season and coming year to do something nice for those who are not as fortunate as many of us. A simple gesture as holding the door or helping load groceries goes a long way to make some one smile or take notice. Volunteer work is also a great way to give back. We all can do something even if it is extremely small.

We love cars, or else we wouldn't be reading and participating in Victory & Reseda. Lets all remember that cars are really only a portion of our lives. Many of us have families that put up with the obsession. We need to remember that our obsession is not always shared by all. That doesn't make the non-obsessed any less important. So, take time away from the cars even if just for a moment this holiday season and give thanks for everything.

Cover photo by Randy Stern