In Windsor Ontario in 1972 on a Monday morning I bought a beautiful 1965 Ford Galaxy LTD. Probably the nicest car I had owned to date. It was bright red with a black vinyl top, had power steering and brakes, power windows and air con. The interior was like new with a rich black brocade material covering the seats. It was low mileage and worked beautifully. That morning I took it into the KMart Auto Centre and had it checked over. Changed the oil and filter, gave it a lube job, it needed nothing else. At approximately 3.30pm I proudly drove my lovely new car home, Linda was working the evening shift at Bell and needed the car. I watched her drive the LTD off feeling a great surge of pride of ownership. That was the last time I ever saw my car!!!!! Around 11pm the phone rang, it was the local hospital!!! Poor Linda had been in an accident, another car had run a red light and collided head on. She had a nasty laceration just above the hair line of her forehead. The hospital were keeping her in for a couple of days for observation, she had 15 stitches in her forehead. I naturally was very concerned and rush in to the hospital to see her. Linda was in some pain but otherwise okay, I sat with her holding her hand and saying whatever soothing things I could think to say. All the while I was bursting to know what damage had been done to my car. I didn’t dare ask, it would have seemed very callous to appear more concerned about the car than my lovely young wife. I didn’t find out the fate of my LTD until a couple of days later. You have probably guessed!!! it was a write off, I had lost my lovely red and black LTD for ever. All these years later when I look back, when I think of all the many cars I have owned since then, only one important thing comes to mind. The cars can come and go, they are after all just things, Linda on the other hand is irreplaceable and I’m so grateful that she is still with me some forty three years later. No automobile could ever replace her, not a Rolls Royce, not a Aston Martin. What about my Mini Cooper, you ask??? Well, perhaps I shouldn’t let her drive it!!!!! Just in the interest of her well being and safety of course.
God Bless and keep reading
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