All this talk about cars

Love that smile!!!

Everyone remembers their cars

The response was surprising. Several people replied to a recent post of mine by sharing their childhood phone numbers. It was the tag at the end of the blog about my grandson’s “new” car that elicited the more passionate responses. It seems everyone remembers their first cars.

The one car families

It was rare for families in my neighborhood to have more than one car. If the little lady needed transportation, she drove the breadwinner to work. Our family benefited from my dad’s riding a bicycle, leaving the car free for my mother.

My dad bought a new car every 10 years, manual transmission. I was grateful for learning to drive “a stick”, and I required each of our children to learn before they could get their license. It was more difficulty with C-boy–we had graduated to automatic transmissions and had to find someone with the appropriate vehicle.

Dad buys a second car!

When my older brother and I reached driving age, Dad bought a second car. I marvel now that it did not astound me. The used Rambler eased my embarrassment of driving the family’s outdated baby blue ’57 Chevy, ironically now a classic. The green tank became a vehicle well used by brother and our friends, and later a bigger joke than the Chevy.

But we didn’t care, right? We had wheels! And that was rare among our friends. Big Bro and his friends harbor many memories of their escapades with that Rambler, unknown outside their circle.

We didn’t take the car to college, leaving it for Little Sis and her group to create memories known only to the chosen few.

Married and carless

Mike and I were in college when we married, carless. Months later, I walked to the doctor’s office with labor pains and then to the hospital. On discharge, we took a cab home.

Our first car as a married twosome was an old Oldsmobile Delta 88, probably the most luxurious boat we will ever own. With the back seat removed, it held all our earthly possessions as we moved into adulthood.

We were happy

Blue Boy, this is to let you know that, although I might have had to play with the clutch and prop open the tappets, I didn’t have to crank the car to start it.

The wheels took us where we wanted to go. And we were glad of it.