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Bex Hall > Memoir in Objects > The expired license plate

The expired license plate

May 12, 2022

The expired license plate.

In the late 90s, I was in transition and untethered. Between relationships. New job. It was a trying time, but I was fortunate to have my friend Eliza as an anchor.

We met through work, but our friendship extended beyond that. Marathon phone calls, vacations together, shopping, recipe exchanges.

One summer, our favorite radio hosts John Boy and Billy, from The Big Show, appeared at the Charleston Regatta in WV to host a concert. Eliza asked me to make posters for the event and when I grumbled, “Why me?” She quipped, “Well, you ARE the creative one…”

It became a running personal joke over the years and then in 2000, when it was time to renew my car tags, I adopted the label on a personalized license plate.

It was the same year I wrote a column, developed my first website, painted a mural, and lived up to the nickname the CREATIV1. The DMV has a limit of 8 characters, so I had to get, well, creative.

I only had the license plate on my car for a year, but have had the friendship with Eliza for 23.

Now the license plate hangs on my wall, and I know Eliza is just a phone call away.

Me, John Boy, and Eliza, Sternwheel Regatta, Charleston, WV 1999

This is the 42nd story in the Objects as Waypoints Writing Project series.

Filed Under: Memoir in Objects Tagged With: the 100 day project 2022, the objects

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About Bex

 

Bex Hall

Her writing has appeared in various online and print publications, most recently in Kerning, a literary magazine, and in the Stories of Hope Collection in Transplant Living. Her artwork has appeared and sold through the Grayson Gallery. She blogs here about creative life and creates in Studio BE overlooking the Ohio River. Her work in progress is a memoir about the secret life of objects.

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  • The 100 Day Project

    50 short stories in 100 days.

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  • Creative practice goals:

    Show up every day behind the pen, the brush, or the lens and share my work.

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