BUYING THE NEW CAR

Its a coincidence. Today is the birthday of my oldest, the first-born. Last year he came from Texas to help sell the old car and buy a new one because I was obviously not competent to carry this off. The old car made me feel sad, not because of the dimple-like indentation on the side but because I didn't like to ride in it anymore. Of course, my son noticed the side right away and I had to tell him about the gas pump.He seemed to take it in his stride. He is an engineer and very calm and steady and not inclined to be critical.

We spent two days looking for the right car. It couldn't be Japanese so that shortened the choices. That was because my husband was in the Navy in what we refer to as "the War", and he never got over his intense dislike for all things Japanese. We talked to him over and over about how the Japanese were our friends, and how they made these wonderful cars better than any American could do, but he wouldn't buy it.

When we parked the car at the first dealer, I thought if we put it in the shade the salesman wouldn't notice the dimpled side because it really wasn't that noticable. But he had the eye of an eagle when it came to making a trade-in allowance. He said that was body damage and they couldn't use it on the lot. Right away the value fell--I think about $3000 but my son did some hard bargaining at the end that helped. I couldn't have done that, but my son said I helped inadvertedly. I got very tired in the middle of this talk and said "I want to go home". That speeded up the compromise, my son said. The next day we got the car, a lively little car with a hatchback, all American. My son promised he would not tell the other children about the gas pump and I trusted him.

I remember the day he was born. Things were very different then. I had something called "Twilight Sleep". It was a shot and some pills and you woke up many hours later and there was this little baby. Then, get this, you stayed in the hospital for five days with people bringing you flowers. I think this method had a lot to say for it.