My car in high school

 I drove two cars while I was in High School. The first one was a blue VW station wagon. Fun little car. I learned to drive a stick shift in it. My Mom was my primary driving instructor, only because she had more patience than my Dad. I remember one time we (my Dad and I) were out for a drive. We came up to a stop sign, and I’m trying to figure out how to stop and and not stall the engine. Dad reaches over, pulls the emergency brake, and says, “You start from here. Don’t stall.” I’m pretty sure I did. Or if not, it was a really ugly jerky start.

We got that car I think before we went to Libya, because I remember the girls in these mini cribs that filled the rear of the hatch back. No seatbelts, they just rode around in an open box. We took it to Libya, then Italy, Washington, and to Nellis. Then it met me. That car lasted most of the summer, and one night I was driving home from a National Honor Society meeting, Greg Madonna and I were driving in separate cars. We came to a 90 degree curve and I stepped on the gas, went inside him and passed in front. The next thing I knew there was a lamp post in my windshield, and it embedded itself or I embedded myself into it. Luckily I had no passenger. Pretty sure they would have died, or had their legs crushed. No airbags back then.

I ate the steering wheel with my chest, cut my fingers in the windshield, but other than that, I got out and was fine except for shock and the certain knowledge that I had just made a horrible mistake. Dad was going to kill me. He didn’t. My parents were very good about everything immediately after the crash. I was home for about a week, then back to school. Nice black eye, so that was good for the sympathy vote. The “Piper” I had to pay was my Dad for weeks afterwards bringing it up over and over again, Yes, I messed up. Yes, I was goofing around. and yes, I was very VERY lucky.

Eventually I got another car to drive. I was too active to not have transportation. Dad came home with a yellow VW bug.

Loud peppy engine, Modified steering wheel, another stick shift, which by then I was very comfortable with. Fun little  car; I added an 8-track stereo system and a CB radio. I drove that until I went to college. Even drove it to Prom. By then some people were starting to get Limousines, but that wasn’t something in my price range. Though, if there was anyone to double date with I probably would have chipped in. Unfortunately, none of my buddies were interested in going that year. Their loss - It was a fun time, and my date for that one night thought it was a cute car.