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Dec. 29th, 2004 03:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerMy father decided to give me a key of my own to his beloved 1954 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, and we had a little father-son bonding time as he showed me how to start the car. The reason why he's decided to do this now? "Just in case I..." long pause, "... I'm out of town, for some reason."
For those who don't know, a 1954 Rolls Royce like this is the epitome of "gorgeous car." One could easily, easily get $50,000 for it in today's market if you were looking just to unload it. But don't get me wrong, the money is hardly the reason why I thought to myself, "Once he dies, I'm getting rid of this car." It's a good reason, but not the real reason.
My mother, sensible woman as she is, just squelched that idea. I mean, my father absolutely loves this car, there are so many memories of us, so of course I'd want to be rid of it. But besides my mother being a car lover and especially a lover of this car (not to mention she had a Silver Cloud of her own once, but had to sell it to pay for my private school), she's persuading me to hold onto it for awhile, that it will only acumulate in value, and that it's built so solidly that it'll last forever. And it is a masterpiece of engineering, I can attest to that much.
When my father dies, I'm not going to be exactly poor, assuming he doesn't go into a rest home and just completely saps the funds. I just want to be rid of as many of his and our ghosts as possible. And sure, it wouldn't hurt to make a pretty penny in the process. I mean, in the will I'm not entitled to most of the money until I'm about 30. His little way of controling me from beyond the grave, mother says.
But this isn't about money. I don't have to tell you that, I'm sure. It's just, he's going to be with me for the rest of my life, no matter when he dies, and I'd just like be free of as much of him as possible. I wish to God I didn't feel this way. I wish I didn't have to.
That said, his house? Our house in Brookmont, within walking distance of the river? It's gone. Way of the Dodo. Oh yeah. I'm going to scour up all the blood, piss, and other bodily fluid stains, pack up my stuff, and get rid of it as soon as I can. I'll keep the car, maybe even use it to treat a ladyfriend to a night on the town, but this house will be gone and done. I'll even salt the earth if I have to.
For those who don't know, a 1954 Rolls Royce like this is the epitome of "gorgeous car." One could easily, easily get $50,000 for it in today's market if you were looking just to unload it. But don't get me wrong, the money is hardly the reason why I thought to myself, "Once he dies, I'm getting rid of this car." It's a good reason, but not the real reason.
My mother, sensible woman as she is, just squelched that idea. I mean, my father absolutely loves this car, there are so many memories of us, so of course I'd want to be rid of it. But besides my mother being a car lover and especially a lover of this car (not to mention she had a Silver Cloud of her own once, but had to sell it to pay for my private school), she's persuading me to hold onto it for awhile, that it will only acumulate in value, and that it's built so solidly that it'll last forever. And it is a masterpiece of engineering, I can attest to that much.
When my father dies, I'm not going to be exactly poor, assuming he doesn't go into a rest home and just completely saps the funds. I just want to be rid of as many of his and our ghosts as possible. And sure, it wouldn't hurt to make a pretty penny in the process. I mean, in the will I'm not entitled to most of the money until I'm about 30. His little way of controling me from beyond the grave, mother says.
But this isn't about money. I don't have to tell you that, I'm sure. It's just, he's going to be with me for the rest of my life, no matter when he dies, and I'd just like be free of as much of him as possible. I wish to God I didn't feel this way. I wish I didn't have to.
That said, his house? Our house in Brookmont, within walking distance of the river? It's gone. Way of the Dodo. Oh yeah. I'm going to scour up all the blood, piss, and other bodily fluid stains, pack up my stuff, and get rid of it as soon as I can. I'll keep the car, maybe even use it to treat a ladyfriend to a night on the town, but this house will be gone and done. I'll even salt the earth if I have to.
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Date: 2004-12-29 09:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-30 05:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-30 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-30 05:59 am (UTC)Does that particular model mean anything to you?
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Date: 2004-12-31 03:00 am (UTC)god we need to talk more, but lj conversations will do for now. i really think we have a weird bond of some sort, because, (and you won't believe this), a silver cloud is on my list, but not a 54 but rather a *56* (you see, these were the silver cloud Is, the silver cloud IIs and IIIs were not nearly as nice, in my opinion) but anyway, a silver *dawn* 1954 is even higher on my list (remind me sometime to go over the list with you, i find it quite impressive, ..but then again, it *is* my list) and some trivia for you, when the silver dawn came into the picture in 49, it was made only for export and it only came in left hand drive. and there were only a few more than 750 made, which leads me to my next, repetitive statement...
KEEP THE CAR
oh, and you say your mother is a car lover, yes? i'll have to keep that in mind next time i see her, i never know what to really talk about with her, and i fear that i bore her sometimes, but, cars are a passionate subject for me, so, we shall have to talk cars sometime.
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Date: 2004-12-31 04:37 am (UTC)Yeah, it's left hand drive (meaning English model, yes) and there're only like, 300, 200 of these still in existence, so, yeah.
And by all means, do, you must talk with my mother more. She's not a huge car buff exactly, she just knows and loves old Rolls Royces. She likes to guilt trip me every so often by reminding me how she had to sell the Silver Cloud for me.
She did tell me the Dawn is even better and rarer than the Cloud, so I was hoping you would react as such. I feel like such a plebian; I'm surrounded by people who absolutely love something like this, and all I can see is an artifact that just embodies my father. I'd hard to see it as something else when that's all it's ever been.