Full Circle

How many people find themselves being presented, at age 35, with the pink-slip to their first car, the one that they helped choose, fix up and learned to drive on almost 20 years before?

I did. Today.

We were at a party at my sister's house, a going-away party for her son's best friend who is moving to Oregon with his wife. My nephew's friend, A, had bought my old '68 Volkswagon Beetle from my dad after I abandoned it to him in college. This Bug had a leaky sunroof, a home spray-can paint job that rubbed off with every wash and a heater that never really worked. The wipers had two speeds: slow and off. The radio rarely got any stations in and the entire headliner was missing.

A had bought the car for a dollar from my dad. I thought it was cool that he was going to fix it up better than when I had tired of it. It leaked oil and ran through brake fluid. It ran, sounded and coughed like a Bug. I drove it for five years, bent the bumper, dented the fender, ran it out of gas and pushed it out of traffic myself too many times.

Unfortunately, A's plans for it never materialized, what with his busy schedule and lack of funds. So it sat for a while, sad and neglected. When my hubby had heard that A & his wife S were moving to Oregon, he planted the germ of the idea--"Sell it to me, I'll restore it."

Today was the farewell party. A & S are leaving in two weeks. We happened to be visiting SoCal this week and were glad to see them before they go, since who knows when we will see them again and they are good people.

Hubby said, "A wants to talk to you." I was surprised, then there he was with the Certificate of Title in his hand. "The Bug is yours again. Here's the pink-slip. I've already signed the back." I was flabbergasted. Completely shocked. I now re-own my first car. "How? What? Why?" They revealed hubby's suggestive questions, the day's earlier cash exchange of two dollars. With a sly smile, A boasted, "I doubled my money!"

And we paid twice as much as he did, for a car that doesn't work, no engine, replaced doors, the fenders in the front seats, and plans to restore, rejuvenate and revive an authentic gem that hopefully will be my daughter's first car in a few years, when it will be unique and cool to have a classic Bug that coughs and sputters and whirrs and skates down the road.