Proper Frame of Mind

I have observed over the years that sometimes there are things that I don’t want to do, or things that I do want to do that others may not. It is quite frustrating sometimes, but it is great when we are all in the proper frame of mind.
We are now experiencing a worldwide epidemic, actually they are calling it a pandemic. Joy and I are staying home along with our grandson Orson and his father Stephen. All around us people are reaching out and looking out for each other. Our whole family is on an online chat group of some kind, I think it is   called “WhatsApp.” All of us can check in and see how we are doing and talk to each other that way. It has actually been fun to do.
I have gotten off the track of the story. I got to thinking of something else. It is great that I am able to think, but it would be fantastic if my mind would stay on track.
Rose and Leonard Stubbs 1999
Anyway, the thing I want to write about today is a story that happened when my mother was very ill, and she knew that she was dying. She wanted my dad, her husband, to have a new car before she passed away. Of course, it was not something that my dad wanted. He had had an old Chevrolet that he thought was just fine. His wife, our mother, decided that he needed something a lot nicer. He was a patriarch, and she thought that he should look better and present himself in a better light.
Now to the story. I was in Boulder City and Mom said that I should drive her to a multi-car sales place in Henderson Nevada, so we hopped into Dad’s old car and headed to Henderson to find a car. When we got there, we got out of the car and looked around at some of the cars. Mom was doing her due diligence, which at the time I truly did not understand. She looked around at some of the cars and then went into the sales office. I didn’t go in with her; a few minutes later she emerged with a set of keys. They went to a really souped-up looking two-seater. I had a complete lack of trust in Mom’s choice, but she said we should leave Dad’s old car there and drive the hot rod back to Boulder City. When we pulled up to the house, she said to honk the horn. Dad looked out, and I think that he almost had a coronary. He said no, and we drove it back to the Autoplex. She then produced another sent of keys to a nicer looking car that still looked like it was painted for a teenager with nice stripes along the side. We drove it back, pulled up in front of the house and honked. Dad came out to the porch and yelled, “No Rose No!”
We then made one more trip to the Autoplex, and she came up with, yes, you guessed it, another set of keys. We got in the car and headed back to Boulder City. This car was an Impala. It was a tan cream color. When we pulled up to the house Dad came out and looked at the car. He still didn’t drive or sit in it, but he said, “Yeah this one is okay.”
2003 Chevrolet Impala
Mom told me to drive it back to the car dealership and pick up the paperwork for the car. I asked her about what I should do to pay for it, and she just looked at me, and said, “I paid for it the first time we were there.” It was somewhat confusing, but I did what she asked and drove back out to the dealership. They were waiting and handed me all of the paperwork, and I was off home again.
Later that day I asked Mom what was going on, and why didn’t we just drive the Impala home and be done a few hours earlier. She said, “Oh well, your dad needed to be in the proper frame of mind. He would not have agreed to buy the first cars I brought home no matter what they were.”


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