Take off your hat, I want to stand up.

Chapter 28: The Cadillac.

Chapter 28: The Golden Cadillac Coupe De Ville..

The 1964 Golden Cadillac.

This ultra sleek creatively modelled power wagon was a special custom ordered two door, Cadillac De Ville, special gold. The paint was flawless. The car was true to Detroit's finest effort, the 390 cubic inches screamed 325 horse power with a liquid lightning, four barrel carburetor. She was fine. The interior could easily comfort a fully grown man, who wanted to stretch out and have a nap. Electric windows, doors and full sounding stereo were some of the more advanced features of this Cadi.

My Grandma Fulton's sister Ruthy, was originally a Shaw, married a Glanville and once widowed; married Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown was the President of a large and powerful prairie corporation. He fell in love with my aunt the minute he saw her, she was very sensuous looking. She had a sweet smile, auburn hair, full lips and a generous figure. She was as sharp as they come and not one to wait on ceremony. She said a very agreeable yes, to the marriage proposal in the blink of an eye. They were not getting any younger and time was of the essence. Secondly and possibly more important, ladies did not jump into bed without the proper nuptials.

On their wedding day a happy few gathered to witness the union. The previous day Mr. Brown went down to his good friend smiling Jack Broaderick, and drove off with a spanking brand new Gold, Cadillac De Ville. It was a wedding present to himself and his new bride.

Once the howdy do's and what nots were cleaved off the table Ruthy and Mr. Brown saddled up the new car and pointed South to Texas. They had planned to spend one month in Brownsville, Texas a favourite destination for many mid-west Canadians. Not two days out, in the middle of some particular going's on, Mr. Brown grabbed his chest convulsed and expired. It was deemed a massive heart attack. He was dead before his head hit horizontal. Unbelievable.

This was an unexpected tragedy for my dear Auntie Ruth. The Brown family closed in tighter than a tick in a horses mane and Ruth was quickly dispatched from the old gents entitlements and valuables. Ruth got the Caddie, sort of a going, going gone prize. To be honest this seemed to be alright with all parties, after all they were only man and wife for 48 hours, give or take an hour. Ruth never married again and treated this love as the high water mark of her kind life. When asked about the situation she would roll her eyes and tear up in a nose shrivelling manner, enough said.

Some time passed and my dad had his eye on the shiny Gold Cadillac De Ville, one summer day in the early seventies he rolled up to the house. He opened the drivers side door and stepped out of the only car he ever really wanted, a Cadillac. He had pride of ownership slapped on his face, he had made a deal with Ruth. I never asked about the details of the transaction, it seemed all parties wee pleased. The only issue now was he preferred driving his older model '64 Ford, baby blue wagon. My dad had an on stage effect with the driving of the Cadi, too showy, too flashy for him. He did enjoy driving it out to the lake, parking it in the driveway and peeking at it with the self-satisfaction only achieved by attaining a prize.

My dad owned the Cadillac for three years. He had a liver issue in early 1975. He required treatment and commitment to regain his health. Overall and to his credit he joined AA, stopped drinking, followed his Doctors advice, and by the spring he was eighty per cent healthy. He looked great and had a plan to get his strength back at the lake.

On June 2, 1975; he was sitting out back of the cabin, with his youngest son. A storm was developing out of the West. Suddenly, a wind took the patio umbrella out of its set place. Without thinking his reaction was to grab at it, as he bent and stood, his balance was off, he fell. When he fell he crunched his right upper abdomen area on the brick outdoor brick fireplace. He swam trying to release his body from the confines of gravity, the pitching back and forth scared and pierced his sensitive internal organs.