Metal Meredith

Gee, Thanks Gaston.

R.I.P. Grandpa’s Cadillac

On August 31st, 2004, Gaston came and killed my Caddy.

That morning, I went to Mom’s to see my Grandparents who were visiting from Balitmore. It started raining at 11:30am due to remnants of Hurricane Gaston that was now just a bad rainstorm. I left there aroung 1:30pm and it poured the whole way home. At times it was so bad I was going 30 mph in a 65 zone, not fun.

After I got home, Phil and I played with the baby, ate some lunch and generally thought ‘it sure was raining a lot’. We don’t have local tv channels (a whole other entry is needed to explain my intense hatred for DirecTV), so we thought nothing of how much rain was falling.

Around 5pm, Phil noticed that our front window was leaking. He pulled up the blinds to have a look and let out some not so pleasant words and said, “Meredith, Look outside, NOW”. So I did.

Much to my surprise, our street was a river. Water was halfway up the tires on our truck and Cadillac. There was nothing to be done at that point. Rain was continuing. I turned on the news, hearing reports of higways being shut down, people stuck in buildings in Shockoe Bottom, cars abandoned everywhere.

By 10:30 the rain had stopped. We watched the water rise above the bumpers on both cars. We watched the tires go under. Then, in an hour, all water had receeded. Phil went to check the cars and found water inside, over the seats. My heart filled with dread.

For those of you who don’t know the story:
[I] This car was a gift from my Grandfather. He lost most of his vision to Macular Degeneration several years ago. This was his baby.

In 1991, my Grandfather had an operation to remove a mass on his lung. They were positive it was cancerous, only to find out it was not (or so I recall with my 19 yr old selfish memory). My Grandmother bought this car as a gift. As he was wheeled out of the hospital, the car was driven up to pick him up. Everyone cried. It was the top of the line back then. He has treated it with the best of care since.

When he couldn’t drive anymore, he was crushed. It mainly lived under a tarp in the driveway. He spent $1500 getting it tuned up and ready to go, then gave it to me for Christmas last year. I was floored, I was elated, I was touched. It was so much more of a sentimental gift than a car. It kills me that this happened on my watch.[/I]

I got word on Friday that the car was a total loss. There is no way that I can replace the sentimentality that this car holds. Fortunately, that will always be with me.

On a good note, we are all ok. Our house is still intact and did not flood. Everyone that I know is safe and sound. A car isn’t so bad when you see it from that perspective. Feel free to peruse the photos in their own sepcial secton “Gaston’s Visit”.

Take Care,
Meredith, Phil, and Vivienne
(The photo above is a great way to tell our feelings. Are we laughing or crying? Truthfully, a little of both.)