The "One Last Photo" Story

It was an ordinary day. Heading home from dropping a few of my photos at Strawberry & Co. in downtown Lancaster. Returning home my usual route. North on Queen St. towards the train station, left on McGovern Ave. and right at Lancaster Lincoln & Mercury (LLM). Oh wait, it's not LLM anymore, since Ford stopped making the Mercury model. Ford took their dealership away from them because theydidn't want to handle all the Ford models. Still kept the LLM name, but now sell high quality used cars. I know all this because I bought a new Mercury Mountaineer from Bob Neff at LLM almost 5 years ago. And, they really treat you right. I get free oil changes for life, free inspections for life, free loaner car, and free car washes anytime I want one. Anyway, I make my right turn and out of the corner of my eye I see this car in the window of LLM. Wow, neat car! Red Vette!! I head over the bridge which is over the railroad tracks, make a turn, and head back. Pulled in front of the display room window for a better look at the bright red car and ..... Holy cow! It's the red Vette I used to own. Had to get home and share it with Carol. Our Vette was a 1987 4+3 coupe. Red on red (means red outside and red inside) with a removable top. Stick shift. Wouldn't be a sports car if it was at least a 4 speed I reasoned. We purchased the car in 1994 (I have a few stories about the Vette posted over the last 2 years if you care to find them) and joined the Lancaster County Corvette Club (LCCC) shortly after. Enjoyed the camaraderie of others who were members. Made trips to the shore, entered car shows, drove in parades and homecomings, and did a variety of other things with the members. After 12 years we found we weren't using the car as much as we had been, and the insurance was getting higher, so we sold the car to my next door neighbor, Hank. He talked to me about buying it for a few years and I finally caved in. He did let me use it whenever I wanted while he housed it and paid for the repairs and insurance. Well, Hank's wife died not long ago and he decided to take a job offer in Detroit. He still kept his house next to me, hoping to return sometime in the future, but had relatives staying there. Then a few months ago I saw he was home and I stopped to visit with him. He had gotten married and was planning a move eventually to Florida. Told me he was selling the house and wanted to know if I wanted to buy the Vette back from him. If not he was going to have his friend at LLM sell it for him. I thought hard about it, but finally turned him down. Carol and I like to travel now and the expense of running the Vette would take away from our travel budget. I finally called Bob at LLM and asked him if he still had my Vette in the window. Silence on his end of the line. Then, "You interested in the red one we have in the showroom?" he asked. "Hey, that's my old Vette," I told him. "Mind if I come and sit in it one more time? How about I bring my camera along and you can take a photo of me before you sell it." "Come on in now. I'm not busy," he told me. Off I went with my camera. Wow, it really looked neat in the showroom. They even had special colored lights on it to make the red paint glow. We talked about the car for some time. I pointed out special things about the car he may want to tell a buyer. I even took an extra copy of a 1998 "Vette Magazine" along that had a feature story about me and the Vette. I told him to give it to the new owner if he wanted some history about the car. Then I handed him the camera and Bob took a photo of me standing next to the car. I didn't want to get in the driver's seat for fear I might change my mind about buying it again. I then snapped a few more pixs of the car, said goodbye to Bob and headed home, satisfied that I did the right thing. All I really wanted was a chance for "One last photo"!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.T