"Lizzie"

In 1944 we acquired a neat little Model A. Money was scarce and an old lady who had been told not to drive any more was getting rid of her car at a good price. She had been the only driver, and it was supposedly in good condition. There was a rumble seat, which was fine in good weather. But if it rained, you could forget taking any extra passengers. I was eight months along, expecting Carol.

The first test drive took us out to Leicester. It was April, and spring was in full bloom. New green leaves had covered the maple and oak trees along Route 9, and we even had a window cracked open for the fresh air. We must have been doing the horrendous speed of 25 mph, about 10 mph short of the maximum for the car, when we were pulled over by a State Police car.

The cop got out and sauntered over, pulling out his notebook, leaned down and looked in at us.

"Goin' a little fast there, weren't you?"

Ever the quick thinker, Red said,, "Well, officer, we're heading for the hospital, but I didn't think we were speeding. You see, my wife----"

The officer looked in at me, suddenly jerked back, and said, "Go, guy, go!"

We went. But once we lost the cop, we headed on home. I don't know why he stopped us, but it certainly wasn't for speeding.

We kept that car for several years. I enjoyed driving it myself, but it had a few personality quirks, like stalling in the middle of traffic, or backfiring.

Tillie and I were driving it down Main Street one day, when "Lizzie", as we called her, did her little trick--stopped in the middle of traffic in front of Sears Roebuck. We sat a few minutes, wondering what to do. Fortunately, there was a bar right across the street, and a man very much under the influence wandered over to us, offering to be helpful. We were delighted to accept, and he may have been under the weather, but he got us going, the car started, and off we went with a sigh of relief, and Lizzie backfiring like crazy,

As Arthur Godfrey once said, "If it's for free, take!"