I Love You Mom
It is really strange how life can change within seconds.
One minute I'm outside enjoying the day working on one of my cars when I get a very distressing call from my sister, at first I asked her to hold on so I could clean the grease off of my hands and asked if I could call her right back, she obliged, while I was cleaning up I thought "oh no! today is her birthday and I forgot to call her" yet it was even worse than that! When I called her back she told me that my Mother had just passed away….
Thinking there was something wrong with my telephone I asked her to repeat what she just said, she did and then there was silence!
Our Mother was dead.. just went .. like that… while in the bathroom.. she had a heart attack!
I don't think it has kicked in yet, I'm just in unbelief, denial and most likely later I'll cry like a baby but for now I just want to write about her.
The thing that is really ironic is that her and my step father had just came by my place last week, they came all the way from Reno just to spend one night and visit me and my kids because we hadn't seen each other in years!
When she told me that she was coming down I sort of dreaded the whole thing because I had to get my place ready and presentable for her and I also had to round up my kids.
Anyway this last visit was really good, we got along great and had a really good time, she was so happy to see her grandchildren even if it was only for a moment and now I have to say I'm so grateful that she came, especially now.
I Love You Mom….
Me
Below is a story that my mother wrote back in 1998 for one of my websites aeclassic.com she shares her experiences about her cars and life back in the day.
Mom and Dad back in the day.
"My Mother's Cars"
Introduction
Recently I thought that it would be interesting to get a women's point of view regarding the hot rod culture of the 50's in Southern California, so I asked my Mother to write me a short story about some of the cars that she owned and her experiences with them while growing up in the 50's and 60's. The following is an edited version of what she had put together. I'm sure that some of the following information may be considered boring; however, I thought that it might be interesting to some of you readers, please remember that she is writing to me in first person.
Thank you !
Jeffrey W. Hillinger
A.K.A. Moldy Marvin
My first car was a '39
I bought the car before my 16th birthday which was in March, '52 and of course couldn't drive it at first as I didn't have a license yet.
Actually don't remember very much about learning to drive. I took Driver's Ed in the fall semester '51, but wasn't allowed to take Driver Training as I wasn't old enough. I do remember a boy friend, (David a trombone player and a straight A student), taking me out in his father's car and letting me drive. I Don't remember my Father teaching me although he may have. He was probably a little gun shy as he had tried, (only once), to teach my mom to drive. Scary, I remember being in the back seat at the time.
I remember going to the DMV immediately after my 16th birthday to get my learner's permit and soon after received my license. I took the test in my first husbands Jim's, (the marriage that didn't count), '48 Mercury convertible, black w/white top. Great pipes, really loud and mellow! I had to make sure the top was up because I was afraid that the guy giving me the test wouldn't like the noise and would give me a failing grade.
That old
Shortly after I started driving I was turning around on our street, using a neighbor's driveway. My friend, Vera, who was with me told me that I was "okay", so I backed out and proceeded to tear down the neighbors little short, white picket fence!
The summer after my junior year I really yearned to go back to Verdugo Hill High and somehow my father managed to get a job back at the Record Ledger in Tujunga. However, we wouldn't be able to move back before school started so that little Putt Putt and I made the trip from CP to Tujunga and back several times a week. I can't imagine Mother letting me do this, but she did. I remember that on a couple mornings it was so foggy I couldn't see a thing. There were a few times, too that I stayed with my best friend, Lila Lewis, at her home in Sunland instead of driving.
I don't remember when I got rid of Putt Putt, but it must have been sometime soon after that. I bought it for about $125 and sold it for about $110, so didn't lose much.
The next car that I drove was the '48 Merc that belonged to Jim. Guess it was kind of mine, too, as he's the one I married New Year's eve, 1952. Shortly after we had eloped he received his draft notice, so we decided that we may as well tell our parents that we were married. He left his car with his mother, but told her that I could use it sometimes. So, I would zoom around town, putting those wonderful pipes to their best use, also, turning off the ignition on a downhill ride, and then turning it back on. Boy, what a bang! Then every once in a while, the local police would stop his little old mother, who could barely see over the steering wheel, and bawl her out for going around town making such a racket. She denied
that we were married, his father never did know. And one day I had the car at school and a friend came up to me and said he thought he had just seen me driving down the street. It wasn't me of course. I went to the parking lot to find that the car was missing. Almost had a heart attack! That woman had taken the car without telling me or leaving a message at the school office.
My next car... let's see. Ah, I was going to
Somewhere along the way I became unmarried, quit school, went to work as an information operator with the phone company, (the pay sounding so fantastic! not!), moved to Glendale with another girl into an awful old brick apartment building. The bed stood on end in a little hallway when not in use and then we rolled it into the living room where it was let down flat. The kitchen had a tiny refrigerator that sat on top of the counter next to the sink What a depressing place.
It was at this time that I had my first and only encounter with a "car club". I started dating a guy who belonged to one. Now I wonder why he was in it as I don't think he even owned a car! I lived in
I remember buying my
Anyway, the
Somewhere around this time your father came into the picture. I lived in a different place in
When we got married your dad and I had the same cars, '53 Pontiac and '46 Merc. I'm sure he's told you the sad story of the Merc. It met it's demise while we were living in the tiny house in Sunland. A large car across the street
rolled down the driveway and ran right into the Merc which was sitting at the curb. (We were gone at the time.) If the car hadn't been parked at the curb, however, the other car probably would have gone into our living room the curb was knocked loose as it was.
I'm sure your dad has taken care of the cars we had while together but I'll run over it lightly. He next had a "49 or "50 brown
Sometime later we bought the Mercedes 190SL, year ? maybe '55. Don't know what was traded in on that one. We bought it as a Christmas present for ourselves. Your dad then drove the 220 and I drove the 190. So you can tell people that your family was a 2 Mercedes family for a while!
Your dad sold the 220 when you guys went to
Things sure have changed. The most comfortable, easiest to drive car I've had, however is the '88 Olds that I drive now.
Love you,
Mom
