I was so proud of my car and worked many hours to be able to get it. It served me well and I was able to go many places in her! My siblings had names for their cars but I simply called it “her.” I couldn’t think of a good enough name like “Besse Belle” that my sister had for her car. She was a red chevette and I would always sing “little red chevette” instead of “little red corvette” when the radio played Prince’s song.
I purchased her my Senior year when I was 18. That is also the age I finally got my driver’s license. I showed it off of course. One friend I took for a ride and probably scared her on the back roads going too fast. Not a smart thing looking back on it but thankful to God for His protection and keeping her and us in great condition.
When I first got her, I took one of my sisters one evening around the roads I walked, that took us basically in a “circle” from where we started, one evening. We came close to a corner at a very slow pace and she put her head out the window and hollered, “Here kitty kitty” at a mother skunk and her 4 or 5 babies. Oh man oh man did I I ever get out of that area! I can’t remember if she forgot her glasses or not but it is funny every time I think of that!
I was able to go visit my biological mother since I now had a car. The older siblings were always working and when they had a chance they did bring me to see her. Those days were not actually too pleasant unfortunately. One of her siblings liked to control who went back her drive to see her and put up a pole at the beginning of her drive to keep us from driving back. I had to walk the rest of the way. They claimed we were driving on their ground and it showed me a level of hate that God wouldn’t have wanted me to have. More so, it showed me the evil hearts that some could possess. I really did not know that side of the family until later in life and most of her siblings and family loved my mom very much and went to see her as well. Life dishes out circumstances and God’s path is amazing.
When I graduated from High School, I took my car on a trip to Florida! A friend I worked with on the farm and I went down for a week. I had been to Florida with my older sister and her husband years before. Then, we rode in the back of an enclosed pick up truck with a mattress. I remember the manatee in some Springs in Florida and how deep they said the water was they were walking in when it looked like only a foot or two deep. I also remember the Tea Cup ride at Disneyland and my other sibling eating raw oysters. Boy did that ever turn my stomach! But, we all loved the scouring of the shore lines for the oysters.
When my friend and I went I was much older and we spent more time on the beach. We did go to Disneyland and Seaworld as well. Shamu the whale was a favorite to see. I tried to find the Springs we saw when I was younger but never did. Back then we did not have GPS or IPhones and using an old fashioned map could be difficult at times.
My car got me back and forth to college and my favorite lunch spot during the long days there was Taco Bell. Not only was it good, but it was cheap enough for a college student compared to other places. Days I didn’t eat there, I brought my own lunch and I actually liked the Vienna Sausages. When you have car insurance and bills to pay, sometimes those cheaper meals aren’t that bad!
Many of the professors would tell you that if you did not get to class even if there was a death in the family, your grades would pay for it. Living on the knobs, if there was bad weather, you made arrangements ahead of time to get off the knobs so you could get to class. There was one day it started to snow and, me being not used to driving on snow, took off to town so I wouldn’t get stuck on the knobs. I went around a corner a little too fast for snow and slid into a tree. Fortunately I have a brother who was into mechanics and auto body that he was able to undent and fix her up. Luckily I was not hurt at all except for the fact I hurt my baby! I had her many years and my husband farmer now and I sold her when she was about 8 I think. Unfortunately the young lady we sold it to took off with some friends and totaled it on a Hwy in Tennessee I believe. I wish I’d never sold her because she was a good car!
