Guest Post: Gone But Not Forgotten

Hey Folks! Kelli here -- there was a big event in our family recently, and so I got my mom to write about it! Isn't she great? Anyhow.. here's what she's got to say:

I am very excited and yet extremely humbled by Kelli’s invitation to post on her blog.  I do not have a blog myself, so all of a sudden I feel that my life has meaning and that it is worth living.  I am happy to accommodate Kelli’s request.

Gone But Not Forgotten—

I thought I would blog about a little bit of Lewis family history.

What this car probably looked like in 1982!

                When Scott, Kelli’s dad, returned from his mission in July 1982, one of the first things he did was purchase a brand new car.  He was headed to Provo in the fall to resume his studies at BYU and was going to need the wheels to get there and to get around once he was there.  He and his parents went to Billings car shopping at an event called Car Wars, (two dealers vying for your business) and when it was all over, Scott was the proud owner of a 1982 Chevrolet Chevette.  He paid $4400.  Wow, how times have changed!  Scott adorned his car with his home state license plates, 9er plates even.  This was before 9er drivers had earned themselves the reputation of being bad drivers. 

Authentic '9er' Plates

Scott and I started dating in March 1983 and that is when I was introduced to the Chevette.   I didn’t have a car at school, so once we were in engaged this car became our car, and I drove it when I needed to get my hair cut, shop for my wedding dress, or run other errands.  It had a standard transmission but that was okay because I had learned how to drive in my brother’s pick up.

The  Chevette ties to our family’s history because of the significant events that took place with this car.  On January 10^th, 1984 Scott officially proposed to me in this car.  We had already decided that we were going to get married and had shopped for and bought the ring, but it was not yet on my finger.    When he came to pick me up that night, after we had gotten in the car, he reached into the back seat and brought to the front a beautiful red rose.  It was embellished with greenery and baby’s breath and was wrapped in green tissue paper.  I noticed almost immediately that my ring was there at the base of the rose.  He had taken the ring and slipped it up the stem of the rose and it glittered beautifully in the light.  We were officially engaged.

For the first two summers of our marriage we lived in Cowley.  The Chevette was our U-haul  in our moves to and from Provo.  If we couldn’t fit it in, we didn’t take it.  This was true even when we had Toni and were packing a crib around.  We were pretty much minimalists during our years in college. I suppose most important is that this car brought home from the hospital our first three children.  When Ty, our third, was not quite two, we purchased our first mini-van and the Chevette became our second car, driven mostly by Scott from that point on.  He would take it deer hunting—yes, this little hatchback has hauled around a few dead deer in its time.

The car has been in a few scrapes in its 30 year history.  The first one was in the parking lot of the West Bank  Hotel in Idaho Falls.  It was the day after we were married and we were getting ready to leave on our honeymoon trip.  We noticed someone had swiped us and left some damage.  No note and no offer to pay for the damage.  The second was in the parking lot of Wymount Terrace at BYU married student housing.  This time there was a note and an offer to pay for the damage, and he indeed did pay for it to be fixed.  The third  time was when it was parked in front of our house when we lived in Riverton.  No note and no offer to pay.  We fixed each scrape and tried to keep it nice.  Eventually the hatchback hinge stopped working and when I went grocery shopping, I had to prop it open with a stick.

I can’t forget the pepper spray incident.  Scott had purchased a can of pepper spray when he went on an overnight hike with the scouts into bear country.  Somehow the can did not get unloaded from the car with the rest of his stuff.  On a hot afternoon in August the can exploded and splashed pepper spray all over the interior.  It was terrible.  It was a long time before we could ride in that car without our eyes watering and our fingertips burning. 

Where it's been since 2006

We put a lot of miles on this car before we bought the van.  There were countless trips from Riverton to Cowley and to Idaho to see my family.  Scott maintained it and would fix it when it would break down.   It was definitely showing its age when it broke down in the latter part of 2006.  It was the clutch and this was one thing Scott did not know how to fix, but he was determined to learn how.  We pulled it in the garage and there is sat for a really long time.  He was always going to get to it but never found the time.  It sat in the garage during the winters when our other cars would sit out in the cold.  After it sat there for several years I started to look at other options, like selling it or just junking it.  Scott didn’t really want to talk about those options.  Obviously he was attached to his first car and still had every intention of fixing it, but reality started to set in with him and he knew he needed to do something.  The most appealing option was junking it.  He wouldn’t have to put any money into it by fixing it, and he could get salvage cost out of it.  So after months of agonizing and mentally adjusting he agreed it could go.  We secured a car hauler trailer and loaded it up and we were off to Billings. 

These pictures document the last few days of our family’s first mode of transportation the vehicle that was part of our family for 30 years.   

                 

Chevette Hearse

All Loaded Up

Ready to Die.

Right before they crushed it!