104 Carnival of Genealogy--One BIG Mistake

The topic for the 104th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Cars As Stars of Our Family History II! Three years ago, on April 4, 2008, we celebrated the automobile with stories of cars that touched our hearts, made us laugh, made us cry, and best of all made us remember the (mostly ;-) good old days. That you to Creative Gene for again sponsoring the Carnival of Genealogy.

While I was doing my first blog for the COG, I was reminded of a humorous incident that occurred while I was borrowing my Dad's car.....although it wasn't so funny when it happened. The car was his red hot Chevy Impala convertible and, if my memory serves me, this happened when I was in my senior year of high school....Fall 1964.

Dad's first red convertible in 1961

My Dad had a penchant for red convertibles. His first was purchased in 1961. It was a doozie....fire engine red, with a white rag top and white leather seats. What's not to like about that!!!! LOL

Dad changed cars annually. One of his patients was a car dealer. He loved convertibles and each year there was a brand spanking new one in the driveway. Red was his color of choice.

When I turned sixteen in 1963, I longed to drive the convertible; however, that car seemed to be off limits to me......until one Fall day in 1964. I have no idea how I got the keys ....and where was Dad that day that he didn't need the car for work.

I was allowed to drive to school....let me tell you that was a REAL privilege. I picked up my best friend and off we went....top down, warm breezes blowing. It was decided that we would go home after school, change clothes and come back to the school parking lot to "hang out".

Back at school later that day, we parked the car, chatted with friends and watched some football practice. This was the era of the small Honda motorbikes and a group of our friends were circling around the parking lot, racing. I decided it might be fun to join in using Dad's convertible. It was a ball....round and round we went, laughing uproariously.

As the afternoon wore on cars pulled into the school lot....parents coming to pick up their kids from marching band, cross country and football practice. No matter....we continued to have a ball.

Perhaps I should have taken the time to look at those newly arrived cars OR perhaps I should have remembered that my younger brother, Ken, was out on that football field practicing and would need a ride home....and I was NOT the one with that responsibility.

Around 5:30, my friend and I noticed it was time to head home for dinner. After dropping her off, I drove up the street and parked Dad's car in the driveway and went inside. I was met with one mad hornet of a Mom. Yes, she had been sitting in her car in the high school parking lot watching me cruise Dad's car around the lot, chasing the motorbikes while she waited for my brother.

Needless to say, I didn't get keys to ANY car for sometime.

© 2011, copyright Linda Hughes Hiser