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Good Times
by Thomas Cannon

The car’s 400 rumbled under the hood as I drove it the few blocks home. I only take the car for an errand or two. But there was a time (31 years ago) actually that I took this car all over the place. Yes, my car. It’s a 1971 Pontiac Grandville that I got the summer out of high school.

Cars were so important to us back then. We were in and around our cars all day. I delivered pizza in my family truckster of a car. After a long shift of driving, I spent the rest of the night, well, driving. Up and down the main street of a smallish city, people met up, switched out rides in cars and spent countless laps up and down the only boulevard in town.

That is one of the reasons I held onto my first car. The friends and the good times. My car was not a popular like a mustang or a Camaro. Nevertheless, I liked that my car was unique. Luckily, Grandville was black. That made (makes) him cool.

It was not always easy. I was not always faithful. I stopped driving Grandville (it was in rough shape) and bought myself a Firebird. Moreover, even now, a dependable vehicle for my family comes before restoration.

Today I do not see the interest in cruising. I just drive on errands. I rarely take a lap at the park. I never drive my car to the beach or race other people in it on the way to a concert. That went away as I lost touch with all my friends.

That was what made the slow drive home tonight special. Old Grandville and I reminisced about all those friends that rode with us.

AUTHOR’S PHOTO CAPTION: Me in 1987 with my 1971 Pontiac Grandville on my parent’s dairy farm in Wisconsin.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thomas Cannon‘s story about his son is the lead story in the anthology Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism.   His humorous novel The Tao of Apathy is available on Amazon.  His poems and short stories have been published in many print and electronic journals. He lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Lakefly Writers Conference.

PHOTO: The author in April 2016 at his daughter Kristen’s wedding.