Volvo P1800

I don't know why we went to a car dealership in the first place. I don't even remember what city we were in. It was probably San Antonio, Texas. I had family in the Hill Country, North of San Antonio and we often visited there. At any rate, we had no business looking at new cars. We had no money! My husband Tom McClellan and I were poor school teachers in West Texas. But something about this car just wouldn't let us go, so we bought it. As I recall, the payments were $100 a month. Simply outrageous. And the year? Maybe 1963 or 64. It was the most wonderful thing we ever owned. The seats were so comfortable that we often carried our plates out to the car and ate dinner in it. It didn't have a back seat, just a shelf, but it was just the right size for our two year old daughter. We didn't have to worry about room for groceries, as the local mercantile delivered. No one in Sanderson, Texas had ever seen a car like it. The Volvo was so unusual, that when a couple from Canada came through town driving a car just like ours, we invited them home for dinner! When you were tucked in this car, your worries flew out the window. You felt like the richest and most glamorous person in the world. We had the car for three years or so, and then, when our second daughter came along, we had to get something a little larger. I believe we traded it for a Volkswagen bus.

In memory of Tom McClellan, who died Saturday. Those were the days.........