THE PRIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a 1987 Honda Accord LX. It was purchased brand new by my father. Dad is a Marine (once a Marine, always a Marine). He is veteran of WWII. He served in the South Pacific. The war made his resolve pretty firm and fast. His mantra was "Buy American!" But after taking a ride in a Honda in the summer of 1986 after the birth of my daughter, his 3rd granddaughter, my father shocked us all by buying a Japanese car! The car was for my mother. It was small, easy to handle, and got great gas mileage. My mother drove it the grocery store, the post office and the beauty salon. Rarely did it make a journey beyond the limits of their tiny town!

Now fast forward several years and their 2 older granddaughters began to campaign for ownership of the car. Sometimes they would resort to gentle prodding and sometimes it became groveling! It is the stuff of family legends. Even as the 2 older girls went off into early adulthood with vehicles of their own, this Honda Accord was coveted by both. At family gatherings there would always be the friendly teasing .. ."Pappy, do you think I can have the car now?!" Or, "Mammy, please can't you see that I "need" the Honda?"


As my daughter became a teenager she began her own campaign to take over the ownership of the Honda. Although she has no desire to study law she has demonstrated over the years a certain prowess in her arguments for this vehicle. Although Pappy and Mammy were amused and flattered by all the attention their little Honda received the outcome was always the same. The coveted car remained in the possession of my parents. It seemed that nothing could change their minds! That is until this week!

Enter the Boy King, the youngest grandchild, my son! He is the one child who never asked for the Honda. Although he did indeed covet the Honda in his heart he never gave any indication of his desire. This week his little Suzuki Sidekick stopped running. This small, plain car had decided that it was time to find that scrap yard in the sky as a final resting place. The Sidekick has been are real work-horse of a car...over 180,000 miles! It is boxy, drives like a tank (a truly rough and unpleasant ride!) and gets super gas mileage. Over the last several months the Sidekick has been ridding itself of the creature comforts, such as heat, air conditioning, defogger. Finally the transmission ceased to work...the clutch froze! This meant that my son, the college student and part time worker at Raising Cane's would share my van with me. I became the chauffeured one,...I felt as though I was in prison and he was embarrassed to be seen in an uncool van.

It only took one call, one simple plea to the grandparents and the car was transferred to its new owner. "THE PRIZE", this 21 year old car in perfect condition with only 38,222 miles on it is now in the possession of the baby grandchild...the youngest male! And, just like a Jane Austen heroine I am certain that the girls will wonder why is it that females don't inherit property. They will smile shyly and bemoan their fate. There will be friendly teasing and just a bit of envy because the Boy King triumphed!

The moral of this story: Timing is everything!