The first time I laid eyes on her, my heart leaped into
my throat and I broke out into a cold sweat. I had never
seen anything more beautiful in all my life. I was a
sophomore in college at Oklahoma Baptist University in
Shawnee, Oklahoma. I was studying for Christian ministry in
the area of theology and religion when, onto campus she
rolled in August of 1978. She was shiny gold with unique
pin striping and beautiful birds showing here and there. My
roommate soon began to date the young pretty owner of this
rare second generation Firebird which I would soon discover
was a 1978 Gold Special Edition Trans Am. For over a year,
as my roommate admired its owner, I was falling in love with
the car.
Eventually, as often happens with young love, my roommate
and the owner of the car of my dreams called it quits and
went their separate ways. Months passed and university
life, academics, varsity athletics, and local church
work consumed my time. In November of 1980, while hosting,
directing, and competing in the Oklahoma Collegiate State
Power lifting Championships I noticed Rhonda (the owner of
the T/A) laughing and carrying on with my parents who had
come to campus to watch me compete in the weightlifting
tournament. For the first time since I had met her, I
noticed her more than the car. We soon began to date and my
love for Rhonda grew well beyond my affections for her car.
We were soon engaged and realized that we needed a more
practical car, economy-wise, for a soon to be young married
couple.
She drove the car back to Ohio, it's birth state (the
Norwood Plant), and left it for her father in Youngstown to
sell. She returned with a 1980 model Chevette during the
summer of 1980, which was our first and only car when we
married in June of 1981. Years later, our son (age 13) in
August of 2000 notice an identical car on E-bay for sale.
The seller did not know how to post pictures of the car on
E-bay but the description captured my son's attention since
we had shared with him often the history of the
rare Firebird that "mom sold so we could get married". No
one was bidding on the car and I phoned the owner in
Bradenton, Florida where the car had been shipped new in
1978. He sent me over 50 photographs and a one-way airline
ticket was soon purchased and, in August of 2000, the car,
which had been stored since 1981, left Florida and arrived
in the heartland of America, Oklahoma, with a total of
19,400 original miles. Over the past seven years we have
nearly doubled the miles which now read just over 37,000.
Countless car shows later and over 60 awards to her
credit, the 1978 SE Gold T/A has been well worth the $10,000
it took to get her into the family. God has blessed our
family in so many ways through the years including a
wonderful son who is a fine student and varsity wrestler
for Campbellsville University in Kentucky, a great marriage
for over 26 years, and of course, the car which serves as a
tangible reminder of my wife's commitment to me in the early
days of courtship. (Not everyone would have taken an Okie
as a mate in lieu of such a neat car!) Thanks for letting
me share our story with you.
