RIP Jack

Jack Lemmon, 1995-2009
F.L.Y Car and Traveling Companion

I got the bad news on Saturday morning. The mechanic called and said that the transmission in my 14-year-old Buick needed to be replaced. I didn't have time to get it repaired, and it seemed silly to pay for a repair that cost three times the value of the car. So, I made a very difficult decision: I took a deep breath and told the service people not to bother with the repair. Then I went to buy another car. So, in memory of Jack, I offer this tribute.

Jack was as faithful a traveling companion as a girl could ask for. He came into my life as I graduated from high school, the last legacy of my beloved neighbors. After Harold passed away, and his wife, Betsy, went to live in a retirement community permanently, their daughter decided to give me their car, rather than keep it. So, at seventeen, Jack gave me the independence that every seventeen-year-old girl dreams of. It wasn't exactly the car I'd dreamed of, and I referred to it as a Fogeymobile Land Yacht (F.L.Y. car), but it was a free vehicle when I had none.

Times were not always smooth with Jack. In our first year together, Jack's transmission gave out and the electrical system blew. As a result, Jack gained a last name: Lemmon. The car was christened Jack Lemmon; as a car that was designed for older adults, I named it after an older actor.

On one of my trips back from school, his muffler let go. When I stopped the car at 10:30pm and found that the muffler was dragging against one of my rear tires, I was forced to simply take the muffler off completely, stash it in my trunk, and continue on my way. I felt very independent and empowered.

But perhaps the strangest Jack incident was when I went to pick up my sister at the airport, and Jack decided that he would refuse to shut his back door. Something went wrong with the latch, and it simply would not close. After thirty minutes of struggling with the door, I was forced to grab the rope out of the trunk and tie the back doors together to keep them closed. But, other than a little whistling and extra ventilation in the car, it worked out reasonably well.

That always seemed to be the way it worked out with Jack. Things frequently went wrong, but nothing ever happened at a time when I couldn't deal with it. And Jack accompanied me on great adventures. We traveled all over the Midwest, east coast, and southeast. Jack carried me to and from school, on road trips and family vacations, and on endless errands.

Jack, thanks for the years of companionship and support. Thanks for helping me to learn independence, responsibility, and flexibility. Thanks for your dependability. I'll miss you, dear friend.