That car has been through a lot with our family. It had really become a trusted friend, kind of like a favorite pet I suppose. It was definitely showing its age with considerable rust on the roof and at the bottom of the doors; kind of like the graying hair that graces an aging gentleman.
Aubrey would have been 10 years old when we brought that Buick home back in 1989, Elsha was 8 and Lauren was 6. It was the first family car that all of the kids drove. Of course, I used it to get to work for many years. I used it to commute to Orem when I worked for WordPerfect. And it spent a lot of time in Rexburg with Elsha and Lauren. Somehow Aubrey never did get it over to Hawaii. Elsha and Tyler used it for a while after they were married and living in Provo, but I think they got tired of the minor repair bills and it eventually ended up back at home. It really ran pretty well after they gave it back.
The Buick had a reputation for being a run-away horse. You’d have to keep your foot on the brake to keep it from running away from you, especially down a hill. It was a good glider; it liked to go 50 in a 35 zone with your foot clear off the gas. Whoa Nellie!
I remember the day before I was sustained as Bishop. I drove the Buick over to the Church to secretly meet with Bishop Dressen so he could fill me in on some of the things I’d need to know. I parked the Buick back by the baseball field. When I came out of the Church, there was a big dent on the car. Someone had hit a baseball and it landed right on the hood. Unfortunately, I was so worried about the Bishop responsibility that a dent on the care was about the last thing I was going to get concerned about. I never did get it repaired.
As the years went by, the Buick started to show its age. The power window in the back seat would sometimes go down, but not come back up. I'd have to grab hold of and try to pull it back up. Finally, I just disconnected so it wouldn't get stuck in the down position. I think Aubrey got in a fender bender in the Buick, as did Elsha. It started to look like a hand-me-down teen-ager’s car. I replaced the front bumper with parts from a junkyard after one of those crashes. That’s why it had that odd looking white panel under the front bumper (see photo above). Lauren had to pay for some fairly major repairs while up at school in Rexburg, but I don’t think she ever wrecked it. I was surprised none of the kids ever had a major breakdown in it at some remote location between here and Rexburg. Well at least it didn’t meet the same fate that Grandpa Hemingway’s Buick did when Elsha was driving it home from Rexburg and it caught on fire on Malad Pass (remember Elsha, just turn the key off next time).
Anyway, good-bye old friend. Thanks for getting us around all those years. I’ll probably miss you more than Aubrey misses Greg (Cedric our old cat). That cat continues to give, he’s been pretty good fertilizer in the flower bed. But I bet that old Buick will help some kidney patient enjoy a little better life, too.
