Back in 1964 when Anne and I were 19, occasionally we would drive in my old car to Beverly Hills and window shop, looking at all the beautiful merchandise, none of which we could afford. But it was fun to let our imaginations excitingly pretend, for we could be as rich as our imaginations would let us. And other than gas money and a little tire wear on my old car, it didn't cost a thing.
One time Anne and I stood in front of an expensive car agency on Wilshire Blvd. looking at a new blue 1964 Jaguar XK-E convertible, a car James Bond or a king or a corporate titan might drive and we imagined what it would be like for us to drive it. We didn't worry about the price, let alone what it would cost to garage it, insure it and maintain it for we didn't have the money anyway. But in our minds, we were driving it all over town, laughing and having a good time even as we talked about it. We liked that dream so well, that once or twice more we returned to the car agency to imagine it again. In the passion of our fantasy, I promised Anne one day I would buy her a car like that.
Many years later, we could afford such a car and I bought her a Porsche. But as beautiful and expensive as that Porsche was, and as much pleasure as it brought her in the time we owned it, never could it measure up to that long ago fantasy and all the joy it brought us. Today, we know there is no magic in possessing expensive toys but when I think about us as 19 year old kids pressing our hands and at times our foreheads on the glass of that Beverly Hills car agency and of our Jaguar XK-E fantasy, it makes me laugh as it warms my heart.
Dick
To see what a Jaguar XK-E looks like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type
No comments:
Post a Comment