I thought I’d take a little side trip today onto a light, happy topic. A story of God’s blessings.
Yesterday was a special day.. it’s the day that eight years ago, I was able to buy my Granddad’s 1969 Plymouth Fury. It may not sound like a big deal to you, but when you hear the story & realize I am a classic car fanatic, you’ll understand my excitement.
Granddad had the Fury when I was born in 1971. In 1975, Dad’s car was stolen. My mother’s sister & her husband gave him a car, but it was in bad shape, & didn’t last. Dad told his mother the car was dying, & he didn’t know what he’d do. She told him come on down (they lived about 75 miles away) & he could have “Pop’s” car, the ’69 Fury. Granddad gave Dad the keys. Dad drove that car until 1979, when the rear end & transmission were dying. Rather than pour a lot of money into it, he sold the car to a junkyard & got another car.
In 2005, my dad was in the hospital. Hubby & I were going to see him, but had some time to kill before visiting hours started. We stopped at a local flea market. I saw this gorgeous green 1969 Plymouth Fury in the parking lot, & ran to it. It looked just like Granddad’s! Eric suggested I leave a note, asking if the owner wanted to sell. Two days later, he called, saying he did! November 23, two months later & after much trouble with the mortgage refinance we were doing that tied up all of our money at the time, I got the car. The gentleman who owned it said no way it could be Granddad’s car, but still liked my enthusiasm for her. Probably why he sold me the car instead of another person who was interested.
A few days later, Dad stopped by to see the car. He was sure it was his car. I figured that was impossible, but after he went home, he found his old maintenance manual. In it was his Plymouth’s VIN number where he wrote it down in the 1970’s. It matched mine. It was the same car!
Pretty cool, eh? I have a piece of Bailey history & every time I drive the car, I am in awe. I named her “Christina” after Stephen King’s famous Fury, Christine. She has her quirks, like the one day when the horn beeped at me when no one was in the car. I can’t help but think that is Granddad’s way of saying “hi.”
Christina is truly a gift from God. Not only was she my favorite car that my Granddad owned, but I have a thing for big old cars. She is so fun to drive! Also, since God gave her to me, He protects her. In the last 8 years she’s been mine, there have been many severe storms. During one of them in 2010, our house & the next door neighbor’s chimney were struck by lightning while we were out. We drove home to find the whole area in shambles- power lines down, trees down, leaves & limbs everywhere. When we got home, we were horrified to see their chimney’s bricks all over our driveway! Yet, not one hit my car! A couple landed under the car, but the car was unscathed. Also, the tree beside where Christina was parked? It’d been struck too- it was split in half! Yet the only thing on my car was a few leaves & tiny splinters of wood. Another time, we lost a huge branch off of one of our trees- it landed in the 8″ of space between my car & the fence, not touching the car. And, yet another time, another very large limb, about 4″ in diameter & 10′ long landed on my hood during an especially wicked late night storm. I saw it happen, & was terrified at the damage, but since it was dark, & the rain wasn’t stopping, I couldn’t see until morning. That was when I discovered absolutely no damage to my car- not so much as a scratch. A friend of mine has said repeatedly that “God’s got my back with this car.” She tells the truth, that’s for sure!
My car is very special to my family & I. She’s truly a blessing from God, & I give Him all the credit for sending me this lovely gift. I wrote the car’s story from her perspective as a free ebook. It’s available on my website, along with other free ebooks. Just go to the following link:
http://www.cynthiabaileyrug.com/Free%20Ebooks.htm
Here is Christina, not long after I bought her, after my dad spent the afternoon waxing her, like he had 30 years before.
Cynthia Bailey-Rug, Christian Author 