This is an epilogue for Mommy's Piggy Tales. Janna has provided a forum for members to write and share stories from their youth. I have really enjoyed digging through old photos and mostly thinking about things from DECADES ago! Thanks Janna!
Riding Along in Style
When I selected the blog theme
"Riding Along" I knew this photo would be the perfect ending, taken six years after my HS graduation:
 |
| Joe (Age 13), A (10), Karen (24) in 1967 |
Here we are (in color no less!) on Easter Sunday 1967. I'm being professional, Joe is Mr. Cool, and A is so cute. We are in the driveway of the dream house our parents built in 1966 just a few blocks from the place where I grew up in the same town, of course. M was married with children and living in another state. I was in graduate school at the University of Kansas about 2 hours from our Nebraska hometown. I had just completed a key hurdle in a Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry program which meant that with successful research and much more work, I would earn the degree. I had driven home in an old Falcon station wagon that Dad "forgot" to trade in when he bought a pick-up about the time I graduated with my B.S. degree! Often when I went home, Dad took my car to his favorite local mechanic and the tire store for check-ups (and usually he paid for it too!). However, on this week-end, he came back with a 1967 Mustang! What? I couldn't believe my tearful eyes! He said something about the Falcon not being very reliable, with his usual big smile. He had also arranged for some reasonable payments within the stipend allowance a graduate student could afford. Dad always knew what I needed!
Condensing events, soon after this photo was taken, I met my future husband who first noticed me as the "girl with the blue Mustang." We took the car on our honeymoon. For years it was our second vehicle, we even fitted it with baby car seats. As we moved to two different cities, the Mustang was racking up miles. We kept it longer than any other vehicle we've had, 16 years.
So, thanks for
riding along through my youth. Karen
Karen,
ReplyDeleteThe Riding Along theme makes so much sense now. I've always been partial to Mustangs, too, but never actually owned one. Yours was very cool! Your dad helping with your cars while you were in college reminds me so much of my own dad.
Boy, do I remember when you got that car, Karen!! It was the first time I ever sat in a genuine "cool" car and I was astounded Dad got it for you!! It was a big step...Mom and Dad were so proud of you getting that PhD!!
ReplyDeleteReally have enjoyed "riding along" with you on this, Karen... your take on so many shared experiences has been wonderful for me.
I know, Joe, that car was just an incredible surprise. I'm not even sure that Dad told Mom about it in advance. And you sat in it itching to drive it. We had it for a long long time!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Beth. Dads sometimes just know what a child (of any age) really needs. The "Riding Along" theme just seemed to fit with several of my key photos -- especially this one!
ReplyDelete