Family History Month: The Convertible

Tom and Dorothy before they married, a photo by midgefrazel on Flickr.

Family History Month: The Convertible

My mother's father bought her this very fancy car, a Ford Phaeton, while she was in college in Providence.

She told me that "all the boys" loved it. Then, she told me she's rather ride in it than drive it. So, she drove to one of her boy friends house and he hopped in and they drove to the college where he was a student too! They reversed the process when the classes were over for the day. Seems like a lot of money for a few miles. My mother loved living with her parents. She's still be there if my father hadn't come along. She didn't marry the first guy she was engaged to. He wanted to move to Ohio. She said he drank too much. His name was Eugene Primm. (Just think, I could have been named Martha Primm. Yuck!)

As an old lady, she told me that she preferred to look out the window and "watch the world go by". This was the car they used when they got married and my father drove it to his job at my grandfather's laundry and dry cleaning business where he was general manager.

As a small child, I was terrified when they took the top down and drove down a hill.  My mother yelled "Wheeeee!" (with her arms up like it was a roller coaster) and told me I was a baby and I shouldn't be crying. I hated it.

I still don't get the concept of convertibles. But, I wonder if I don't like being in the car because of this car.

Going around in circles....