Publisher's notebook

When Angel Anaya was a youngster, his parents purchased a family vehicle – a practical Dodge Durango.

As he grew up, Angel came to appreciate the ride with all of its "gadgets and gizmos."

"As I grew up I fell in love with the car," he said. His plan as a young teen was to "drive that car to school and show all my friends my sweet ride."

His parents ultimately gave him the vehicle, and he drove it to Clovis High School as soon as he received his driver's license. But his friends were not impressed.

They said it was a "mom car."

Angel, now 18, said he was devastated, but not defeated.

He got a job, started pouring money into that "sweet ride" he still loved, and now it has become "the vision I once wanted for it."

"After a year," he said this week, "I finally could say I have the car pretty nice and a lot of people now tell me it's different and something unique."

Well ... It's not a mom car anymore.

David Stevens writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him:

[email protected]