YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

"I want to be buried in my T-bird", my husband, C said. The T-bird is like a baby in our family since last August. C loves the car because it is what he has been searching for the longest time.

It is a 2004 Ford Thunderbird with the right color, burgundy. C saved his money for 2 years, waiting for the right moment. He searched the internet but both times when he found the car of his dream, the sellers told him that the dream cars were already sold. The first seller was in Colorado and C called immediately after he saw the posting in the Auto Trader website. The seller told C that someone also called about five minutes ago and they agreed to the terms, no haggle or price negotiating. The second seller was in Buffalo, New York. Again the seller told C that someone already called and was on his way to pick up the dream car.

The third seller was from Chicago, Illinois. C called me at work around 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday (August 2005) and told me that he found the dream car and the seller agreed to sell the car to C if he could get to Chicago the next day with a certified check. I said without hesitation knowing that C has been waiting for this opportunity. I told him that I would go to the bank and transfer the money. I could hear C excitement and relieve that I did not question his decision.

The next day, C drove to Chicago (5 hours from St. Louis) in a rental car with a certified check over $20K. I was nervous and concerned that someone might stalk him. My imagination went wild that he would stop for lunch, someone killed him, took the check and I would be out of a husband and of course our savings. Just kidding. I don't care about the money, seriously.

C picked up the T-bird and drove carefully home. He had the biggest smile on his face, bigger than the one I saw at our wedding 16 years ago. Our first weekend driving around in the T-bird. Since then every time when we go somewhere, strangers, people we don't know (mostly men) would stop and admire the T-bird. Men would talk to C as if they were long lost brothers. I usually go into the restaurant, order the drinks and patiently wait for C to finish his discussions.

I am not a car person. I have learned a few things from C about Mustangs and other minor things about car. C loves the movie "Bullit" starring Steve McQueen in the famous car chase. I pretended to know the year and compliment the design just to tease C. I love to say, "That is a 1957 fastback" or "Let's look under the hood" because it was just a lucky guess.

I think we all have things we passionate about or items that we are proud to possess. I am somewhat a materialist but I try not to let my life be defined by a big fancy house or an expensive sport car. Whatever makes a person happy is important. Since whatever it is, you can't take it with you when it is your time to leave the earth.