THE WHITE SUNFIRE

My wife’s  sister Karen is one of the most nomadic and generous people I know. About eight years ago, she retired from a long Canadian teaching career to live and work in far flung places like Korea , Japan and California. Unlike her land locked sister, Karen has visited six of seven continents and it would not surprise me to find her on a junket to Antarctica next. Her sense of adventure is only exceeded by her generosity. Last fall, Terry and I spent a delightful three weeks ‘babysitting’ her cottage in Carlsbad, California as she and Bill Clinton ( no, not that Bill Clinton ) cruised from Fiji to New Zealand. Karen made sure our holiday was complete as she filled her fridge, freezer and wine rack for our convenience as well her Jeep Cherokee with gas, maps and two new boogey boards.

Her largesse also reminded me of an episode many years ago, before she became a woman of the world. Karen not only bought Terry and me tickets to see The Lion King, she also surprised us with reservations  at a fancy downtown hotel to make our theatre evening complete. What a sister-in-law ! But there was a catch.

Karen said her treat was to thank us in advance for letting her park her Sunfire in our driveway so that she could use it whenever she returned for a Toronto visit. No problem, I thought. Surely I could handle the inconvenience of juggling our two cars around hers for a while. Well, one year stretched to three and then five and then….the car needed a blanket for the winter….car washes….insurance-less trips around the block to keep the battery from dying….new licences…emissions tests…calls to CAA…more trips around the block. I was beginning to think that The Lion King wasn’t worth this trouble. My 90 year old mother suggested that we tilt the car on its side and lean it up against the house. Why hadn’t I thought of that !

At the height of my frustration with the thought that the Sunfire would be a vintage car before it was towed away, Terry reminded me cheerfully....

“ Everyone has something to deal with. Some people have arthritis, some have Crohn’s, others have aging parents with Alzheimer’s. All you have to worry about is a white car in your driveway”. I knew she was right but that didn’t keep me from thinking about my mom’s ingenious solution to the problem.

And then, last March, an angel arrived to take away my problem. Karen’s daughter Angie had been living in downtown Montreal for the past several years with no need of a vehicle. All that changed in a twinkling and as Angie pulled out of the driveway, my ‘big’ problem disappeared like the melting spring snow.

I was a free man.