Unchained Melody
by Paul M. Carhart

Less than a year after Lori and I were married, Melody Hannah arrived.

Melody was impatient. She was two months early and only 3 pounds, 8 ounces. For first-time parents who were still newlyweds with no family nearby, her arrival was quite an adjustment.

When we brought Melody home almost a month after she had been born, we were surprised to discover that she came with some unexpected equipment. An oxygen tank.

One of the first things that Lori and I missed was the ability to go to the movies. When I was growing up, my parents would make popcorn and take us to the drive-in. If only we lived in another time!

So I discovered carload.com, a website that tracks Colorado drive-in movie theaters. What a find! The Mesa Drive-In in Pueblo was just the ticket. Open seasonally, the property touts three screens, each featuring two movies for only $6.50 a person. And instead of those horrid speakers from my youth, the sound comes through the car stereo.

Best of all, we were able to take Melody and her oxygen tank with us so we could keep her close. It was our daughter's first cinematic experience and the start of a family tradition.

Melody's over a year old now. Since the drive-in, she's flown on an airplane, hobnobbed with published authors at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference and traveled back in time to the Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur.

This little girl is determined. She now crawls faster than I can walk, climbs over everything and cries "Da-da-da-da" when I come home from work.

One of these days I'll come home to the smell of fresh popcorn and I'll know it's time to take Mommy and Melody to the movies once again. But from now on, the oxygen tank isn't invited.

Related Information

This article was originally written for AAA's EnCompass magazine.