The photograph is of “Tweety II”, the car Terry Bean gave me for my 67th birthday. (Don’t ask…all family positions are taken.) It’s an exact copy of my mother’s car that I loved as a kid. For Christmas 1966 Dad bought a brand new 1966 T-bird with a black tonneau top for mom and an identically liveried new Cougar for himself. When I was 18 I was invited to Billie Williams’ going away party in Dunthorpe. I borrowed mom’s cherished T-bird on the condition that I didn’t drink and got home by 10 PM. “Sure, Mom!”
MISTAKES WERE MADE After I had the third or fourth beer I remembered I wasn’t supposed to drink. About midnight I remembered I was supposed to be home hours ago. A friend asked me if I was going to drive: “Hell yes…I’m too drunk to walk!”
IT’S STOLEN!! I said my goodbyes and went out to the hill where I had parked the car. Dunthorpe is not an average area. They had their own security guard patrolling nights. The guard asked me what was wrong…and I slurred: “My mom’s car is gone”. He asked me to get in and he would help me find it. After a while it became hopeless and he offered to take me home…I agreed. He took a wrong turn getting me home…and there was the car! He made me promise not to go anywhere but home and gave me my keys back.
I ALMOST GOT AWAY WITH IT! I drove home very carefully and turned the lights off the last few hundred feet. I very stealthily opened the garage door and eased the car in. Safe at last! As I opened the door from the garage to the house I could see the hall light was on and there was my mother glaring at me: “Where the hell have you been???!!” There have been several times in my life that quick thinking has saved the day. This was one of them: “I’m late, I’ve been drinking, and I’m not very proud of myself right now. I’m going to bed!” Sometime later Greg confessed that he (and, I suspect sidekicks Bruce Mason and Greg Hicks), had activated the manual parking brake release and coasted the car down the hill. We’ll miss Bruce’s smile and infectious laugh at the 50th Reunion on July 22nd and 23, 2022…but with any luck “The Gregs” will be there! Every time I drive Tweety II I think about how Dad made Christmas 1966 special for Mom, Terry’s generosity…and what rascals Greg Spahr and his band were!
EPILOGUE: Greg Spahr made countless phone calls to personally invite classmates to our 50th Reunion. Some of the success in getting so many people to come is directly related to his valued efforts.
