Loden Malone

Professor Sinclair
LBST 2101
April 19th 2016
The Good Life of Pamela Coleman
Wife of Tommy Coleman: longtime trans am series racecar driver, NASCAR
owner, and TWC motorsports entrepreneur; Pamela Coleman lives a very privileged life.
Pam was not born into luxury but created over many years with her loving husband.
Kicked out of the house at 15 years old, Pam had to work paycheck to paycheck in order
to keep afloat. I always saw myself as a blue collar working till the day I died. I found
the love of my life in 1986, who has shown me more about this world and afforded me
more opportunities than I would have ever been able to experience otherwise, states
Pam. On April 11th, 1992 Pamela Norton married Tommy Coleman at the Biltmore Estate
in Asheville, North Carolina and began her new life.
The Colemans have a reputation in Asheville, they are extremely wealthy, own a
lot and have an extreme amount of power. Tommy Colemans father built the Asheville
mall, and Tommy Coleman owned a multi-million dollar premiere automotive restoration
and high-performance engineering company. To say the least, when I was first introduced
to the Colemans, I was beyond nervous. I was from the other-side of the tracks- my
father is a glass blower and my mother is a single mom (rising three children) and works
as a pre-k teacher for Head start. My world and the Colemans world would have never
collided, but because of fate (I think) I met their son Colin Coleman in 2010 and have
been a part of their family every sense. The thing I love most about the Colemans is how

humble they are, how generous they are and how loving and accepting of everyone they
are. The Colemans are my second family, so interviewing Pam was extremely fun and
exciting!
Over Spring break, I visited the Colemans at their new home in Palm Beach, fl.
Thursday afternoon, as pam and I sat at the pool I interviewed her on her life. To start off
the interview I asked pam: what a good life in her opinion was. A good life, in my
opinion, is a partner that is by my side and has my back; health; family and a few select
special friends that share or respect my opinions and let me be me. It may sound silly or
contrived but a good life is a happy life. Whether we are camping out in the woods
eating hot dogs on sticks or being spoiled with a spa day on a beautiful island, it all boils
down to happiness. I decided I would also ask: How does one go about living a good
life? That the million dollar question, isnt it Loden? 1) Be true to your convictions and
stand up for what makes you happy. 2) Positive attitude (the cup is NOT always half
empty!). I wanted to go into a bit more depth, so I also asked: how she defined and
understood happiness. Pam states, I cannot answer for anyone but me. Happiness for
me is a puppys breath, the touch of a babys skin, fresh air, and sunshine. Its a feeling
from inside that when I wake up, Im right with the world. It is a felling of contentment.
As the sun beamed down on us, I asked pam: What is one event you would go
back to and why? She answers, The day we brought Colin home. It was June 17, 1994.
I was released from the hospital at 11 am. He was wrapped in a blue striped blanket with
a blue cap. Tommy drove us home and carried Colin in like he was a balloon that was
going to burst. We had a cradle in the dinette. We laid him in the dinette and we both just
sat and stared at him for hours. We could not believe that we had made this thing and

how beautiful he was. It was the most memorable experience of my entire life. I really
loved hearing about this event, Pamela is an amazing mother and it shows in everything
she does. In another question I asked about her best experience in life. Her answer: The
Best experience I have ever had was the birth of my child (1994) I have never had as
intense of a feeling as when I held him in my arms. It was the most surreal, phenomenal
feeling. She mentions Colin A LOT throughout the entire interview because her son has
always brought her so much purpose and joy in life.
Pam defines a good life and a successful life as happiness, love, and family.
Family is extremely important to Pam, so I asked about her most memorable holiday.
Pam responds with, Family has always been important to me so I always tried to
decorate special and cook everyones favorite things. They were all very special but I did
especially love one Christmas, 2000. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman (Betty and Pokey) flew up
from Florida and stayed with us at Beaverbrook so they could be a part of Christmas Eve
and Santa Claus. My dad, stepmother and siblings all came later that day for Prime Rib
dinner. It was a great family holiday. I also wanted to know about her most cherished
family traditions. So Pamela mentioned, Christmas, the whole thing. Decorating,
cooking, wrapping presents, waking up on Christmas and being together as a family.
Why is it important, I asked, she tells me, My whole life centers around my husband and
my son. They are my universe.
I was curious what the most important things in life were to Pam. She replies,
Happiness & Health for me, my husband, Colin and Loden. I do try consciously every
day to be happy and look at things positively. That can be a struggle, but I do try and stay
positive. As for health; I worry about it and try and eat consciously, but I eat too much

and drink too much. But, why live if you are not having fun! I am not an extremely
political person, but I do worry about the state of the union and world peace and the
environment that we are leaving our kids.
Dreams and goals are something everyone talks about, and I believe they are an
important aspect of life when trying to live a good life. I asked Pam if her dreams or
goals have changed throughout her life? She discloses that, When I was younger, I really
just worked to get the paycheck and make rent and worked from pay check to pay check.
I started work at 15 and continued on full time right out of high school. I did not go to
college. My parents were poor and could not afford higher education. I suppose I could
have tried to get financial aid, etc but I just did not. I had been working in hospitality and
was told I could move up to management after high school. At the time, this was really
my short-term goal To be a hotel manager. That goal did come to fruition and for
several years I was happy with that. But by the time I was in my mid to late twenties, this
became tiring as I was working such long hours, holidays, etc. I saw people around me
having families and wished for that.
I asked about the turning points in Pams life and she coveys that, I have to say
that becoming a mother was the largest turning point in my life. Before I was pregnant,
life was just one big party. travel, hang out with friends, go to clubs, stay up late and
sleep in. Then motherhood changes you. You are responsible for someone else other
than yourself. My entire focus in life switched from me to Colin. She goes into depth
more and explains just how rewarding motherhood is, and how having Colin has truly
been the best gift.
I finished the interview with the question: If you could write a message to Colin

and put it in a time capsule for him to read 20 years from now, what would you write?
Pam claims that word for word, this is what she would write: 2036- Dear Colin, I hope
this finds you happy, in love and hopefully with children in your life. Please remember to
respect and love your wife and children. Hug them everyday and tell them you love
them. Work hard at being a good man and living life. Dont be so stressed (like your
dad) that everything has to be just so. Sometimes, just let life be and float along with
it. Its a lot more fun! If I am not around to tell you, remember that I love you more than
life itself and am thankful every day that God allowed me the gift of being your mother.
Each morning of my life I think of you and each evening when I go to bed I pray for you.
I love you to the moon and backforever.
Pam lives an extremely good life. She is humble and understanding, extremely
helpful and ALWAYS there for me when I need her. I hope one day that I can live like she
does, not privileged per say, but happy; truly happy with your life. I asked Pam if money
could bring a person happiness and she told me: Money can bring a lot of happiness,
you can experience things that others cant and thats exciting. But when it comes down
to it, you can have all the money in the world, and all you want is love. Ive had many
times when Ive doubted the choices Ive made because all I wanted was Tommy and his
love and affection- but sometimes its hard. Life is hard, really really hard, but having
money to spend has never helped me in my times of sadness. Its a really great lesson to
know, because money can make you happy; temporarily, but it cant mend the problems
in your life. Happiness has nothing to do with money, without love your life is pretty
much nothing; and I truly believe this statement.