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In 1967 I bought my first brand new car. It was a Chevelle 396 SS. The SS stood for Super Sport. It was officially Bolero Red with Black interior and had a fourspeed stick shift and it was fast. It felt fast even when I was simply sitting at a stop sign. I just knew that I was destined to get my first ticket in that car. After all, I had taken it up to 120 miles per hour on old 41 heading to Bass Lake, my summer hangout. I loved speed in those days and feeling indestructible not being quite 20 years old yet. I was raised in church and so I knew that my mom and dad were praying for me. I needed it when it came to driving, fortunately not much else. In 1969, I met the person who was to be the love of my life. Dot, now my beautiful wife, was visiting her brother who was stationed at Lemoore Naval Air Station. She had been here for almost two weeks and was in the last days of her visit when we actually met. Golf had kept us apart for the first two weeks since that’s what I did with most of my free time back then. That’s another story for another time. We did meet and on our first date I took her in my Chevelle 396 SS to Bass Lake and we got there in record time. I am not sure what she thought of this brash young man who liked fast cars and had a lot less wisdom than I do now. I just know that somehow we connected and within a year, Dot Brewer was Dot Powell. Grace and prayer had prevailed. I survived and over the next 52 years I learned to drive a little slower though I still like fast cars as evidenced by my Tesla. Now that’s Good News.
