Braxton Citizens' News

In this weeks edition:

The joys of being a grandparent…
Being a parent has always been very enjoyable to me. But, being a grandparent is even better. One of the highlights came this past weekend when we celebrated Carly’s birthday. While every birthday is important, this one was special. It’s the one when a teenager hits the road. Literally that is… as they come of the legal age to drive.
I remember how important that was to me and I’m sure Carly had similar feelings. Several months ago, Jeanine and I decided to make this a very special birthday for her. In cooperation with her parents, we searched for and purchased Carly’s first car.
With my own children and now with our grandchildren, I view cars in their early driving years as disposable. Of course new drivers have accidents, that’s part of the learning experience. We as parents and grandparents hope they are minor ones that help develop good driving skills. With that in mind and the extremely high cost of insurance for underage drivers, I have always tried to purchase dependable transportation on a shoe string budget. Since full-coverage insurance is beyond my means, we felt taking our chances on the loss was the best option since just the mandatory liability insurance often cost more than the vehicle.
We have been very blessed. This is the third of our nine grandchildren that we have bought a car. None were expensive vehicle, but I don’t think that matters to the recipient.
In Carly’s case, we stumbled on a PT Cruiser convertible at a very good price. We stopped in Zanesville, OH with my brother and his wife when we went to our cousin’s son’s wedding and checked it out. It was in very good condition and we struck a deal with the owner. We met in Parkersburg a few days later to take possession of the new ride. And its red… perfect for Carly.
We hid the car for nearly two months waiting on last weekend to get here. And boy, was it hard keeping a secret in a family the size of ours for that long. But we made it.
Carly and Jeanine’s birthdays are back to back September 17 and 18 so we jointly celebrated them at the lake last Sunday.
With the help of friends, we retrieved the car while Jamie and family were at church. Carly walked by her car in the parking lot when they came back to the boat, never knowing it was her’s or what was about to happen.
Jeanine and I gave her a birthday card with a special addition that I prepared. It told Carly that her present wouldn’t fit in the card and she would have to find it. The helpful hint was that it had her name on it. Allison had made a license place for the front that read: Carly’s Ride.
The whole bunch of us followed her off the dock as she looked for her present. When she rounded the corner at the lake store and saw the plate, her smile was ear to ear. As a grandparent, the look on her face was the greatest reward of all. Jamie said she was still smiling when she left for school Monday, not without making a stop in the driveway to look over her new prize. He told me that he texted her in the afternoon to see how her day was going. Her reply: “Good, but I miss my car!”