Auburn residents Mike Gammon and Matthew Thomas were both a little hesitant at first about their Big Brother/Little Brother match-up.

Both had been paired with others in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and those matches did not work out.

Thomas, an only child who does not know his sire, was looking for that missing father figure in his life. Gammon, who had stepdaughters, was looking for the son he never had.

“Matthew was so young and so clumsy,” said Gammon, 61, laughing at the memory.

That was 10 years ago — which makes their match possibly the longest ongoing in the area — when Thomas was 8 years old and an uncoordinated, lonely little boy.

“Life before Mike was a lot of questions,” said Thomas, 18. “Like where was I going to be in five years and who would I be. I just remember being so sad and so lonely.”

The first thing Gammon taught Thomas was how to run and pick up his feet.

Then came baseball and basketball.

“Going through a second match, I didn’t know what to expect,” Thomas said. “Sports isn’t the only thing Mike has taught me. He has taught me manners and how to be appropriate at the dinner table, and how to treat a woman right. The list just keeps on going.”

Gammon remembers teaching Thomas how to tie his shoes.

He has tried to encourage him to take risks and not to be afraid to fail. But he always makes sure Thomas remembers to learn from his mistakes so he can grow as an adult.

“As the years went on, I started appreciating the match more and more,” Thomas said. “To this day, I couldn’t be any more thankful.”

They see each other daily when Gammon gives Thomas a ride to and from work and classes at Central Maine Community College on Monday nights.

But that will soon be changing.

Unbeknown to Thomas, and one day before the deadline for entries, Gammon wrote a short essay about his relationship with Thomas and entered it into the Recycled Rides program. The program is a nationwide vehicle donation through the National Auto Body Council that gives a family in need a free car.

According to Gammon, Thomas was chosen from 200 essays in the Lewiston-Auburn community.

The 2008 Toyota Camry was donated by GEICO insurance and rehabbed by Coleman’s Collision, and was presented to Thomas at the Bowling for Kids’ Sake fundraiser on April 6.

Thomas was shocked.

“I was so in the moment and so lost. I’m still shocked that I have it waiting for me. It’s so amazing,” he said.

Now, the Edward Little High School honor roll senior has to get his driver’s licence and pay for insurance on the car.

After high school, Thomas is moving to Bangor to study occupational therapy at Husson University.

He doesn’t see his relationship with Gammon changing all that much. They won’t see each other every day, but they will definitely catch up on a regular basis and grab a game or two on the television when Thomas is in town.

“He was always a good kid,” Gammon said. “I could see that. He just needed a little bit of guidance.”

To Thomas, the Big Brother/Little Brother match means a lifelong bond.

“You realize you have a really great friend in your life,” he said. “You have that rock.”