By Jeff Perez
As we often do, we received a message in our inbox regarding a beautiful classic Corvette. It was from our reader Gregg P., who wanted to show off his stunning sportscar to the online world. But Greg’s story was a little different from our average submission, it was a story of friendship and family, and a Corvette that was more than just a car to him. And it tugged at our automotive heartstrings.
“I told my daughter Brenda — who lives in California — the story, and that I wanted that car real bad. Unfortunately, her mother said we didn’t have a place to store it or the money to afford to keep it. I went to see Rick on Thursday Sept. 12, 2013. It was sad, but we laughed about old times, and I asked Rick’s nephew, Chris, where the Corvette was. He said it was at his house and someone was looking at it. I never thought I would see it again, and it was meant to be that I would never own a Corvette.”
We’ll let Gregg tell you the whole story (as written by Gregg):
“I got my 1976 L82 Corvette as a gift from two of my daughters. The car belonged to a real good friend of mine that I had worked with for nine years. About a year ago, I couldn’t get in touch with him — he wouldn’t answer his phone, and he didn’t have an answering machine.”
“On Sunday September 8, 2013, I was bored, so I went on Craiglist for the first time ever. After about half an hour, I came across a picture. It was a Corvette. It had a price and a story saying how the car belonged to the sellers uncle, and the family was parting with it to help pay some off medical costs. My heart dropped — it belonged to my friend Rick, he was in hospice care at home and was bed ridden, unable to answer the phone.”
“I told my daughter Brenda — who lives in California — the story, and that I wanted that car real bad. Unfortunately, her mother said we didn’t have a place to store it or the money to afford to keep it. I went to see Rick on Thursday Sept. 12, 2013. It was sad, but we laughed about old times, and I asked Rick’s nephew, Chris, where the Corvette was. He said it was at his house and someone was looking at it. I never thought I would see it again, and it was meant to be that I would never own a Corvette.”
“That Saturday afternoon Sept. 14, 2013 was a day that rocked my world. I was watching a movie, heard a car outside, and looked out to see my friend’s Corvette in my driveway. I yelled to my wife that it was outside — I ran out and my daughter Michelle was getting out of it. I ask her what she was doing with Rick’s car, she said it wasn’t Rick’s, it was mine. My eyes filled with tears, and I kept saying ‘no it’s not.’ I could not stop crying, her and her sister said I deserved the car and knew it meant a lot to me because of my friend.”
“The car is named Marlee after my girls, Michelle Margret, and Brenda Lee. My friend died on October 10, 2013. Marlee and I were at the service to see our old friend off. The car needs minor work, but it only has 40,000 miles and I am proudly the third owner. And I am blessed to have such a wonderful family.”
No comments:
Post a Comment