One man's trash,

is another man's treasure

We have not bought any of our kids a car when they turned 16. But, the same people who refused to buy me a car when I was 16, insisted on making sure that their grandkids had a car. 

 When Beth turned 16, they gave her their old 1995 Crown Victoria. It was a decent car--then. She drove it, wrecked it, drove it some more,  then passed it on to John, Jr.

He drove it, and drove it and drove it. For five years he drove it. Then sister Beth comes to the rescue and allows him to drive her car while she is in DC.

So the Crown Vic is given a much needed rest.

Then Daniel starts to think about getting his license. We still can't afford to buy him a car, and it wouldn't be fair to the others if we could. Jokingly, we tell him he can drive the Crown Vic, if it will pass inspection. Daniel starts to save his money to pay for any repairs needed to pass inspection.

I keep trying to prepare this eternal optimist. I tell him to listen to the car- you can hear it coming for miles...eeek, errrk. I tell him to look at the car, it lists to one side. The windows do not roll down. The steering wheel is permanently cocked to one side. One day last year, the horn spontaneously started blaring. The only way I could stop it was to turn the car on. We still don't know what happened to cause it to stop???

We take it in for inspection, and amazingly, it passes.

More amazingly is Daniel's reaction. He is sooo excited and does a little happy dance.

So, now he has his license and Ole Bessie is back in service. She is getting treatment that she hasn't had in years. Daniel actually vacuumed her out and washed her!! He gladly drives the bomb!  He considers it a treasure!

Daniel's treasure