For those of you who saw my original post about Joanne and for those that didn't, please check this thread...... A Special Ride
I apologize for the length of this story, but I felt you would enjoy reading it..it's worth it.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, Bob and I had the honor of surprising Joanne with her first Prowler ride. Joanne's daughter, Valerie, called me Sunday morning and told me that she felt she needed to cancel the schedule surprise. She said that her mother wasn't feeling well and when she had mentioned to her on Saturday that they had a surprise for her on Sunday, Joanne said she didn't think she was up for any surprise. Unfortunately, the weather was much cooler and cloudy, so obviously a ride with the top down was definitely out.
In talking with Valerie that morning, I suggested that instead of totally canceling, that we would come by just so she could see the cars. Valerie had invited several of her family members for the surprise ride and luncheon. It seemed a shame to cancel all the work she had done. I told her that it was okay if we didn't actually go for a ride, but it might cheer her up to see the cats. I figured Joanne could decide if she wanted to go or not. Valerie agreed to proceed.
We arrived at Joanne's house with the Candy Cat and the CAL KID cat at the appointed time of noon. Jerry (Valerie's friend who started this whole thing in motion) was outside with a video camera. When I came up the driveway in the CAL KID, they brought Joanne out on the porch. Her face literally lit up and a big grin spread across her face. She was so excited and she just couldn't believe what she was seeing. After introductions between all of us, she came down off the porch to get a closer look at the cats. She was going on and on about how cool and beautiful they were. She said she would have never guessed that was what the surprise was. There was lots of smiling and oohhing and aaahhing going on, along with lots of video and picture taking. After a time, I told her I had one question for her. She asked "what?" and I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. She looked at me and said "absolutely!!!". I asked her which car she wanted to ride in and she said..."the flamed one of course!!" 
I think her family was pretty shocked that she wanted to go. I gave her my Prowler jacket to wear and she got in the car. She told me that she might not want to go too far, and I said okay...just tell me where you want me to drive. We ended up going about 20 miles round trip. As we were driving on the surface street, she asked if I could take it out on the freeway and so we did. Once we got on I-94, she asked if I could "get into it" a little bit (she knew it was supercharged) and of course I obliged her. I wish I could have had a video camera mounted inside the car. She talked and laughed the whole ride, telling me all about her life's adventures. Of course, we were getting lots of thumbs ups and she was giving everyone thumbs ups back, grinning the whole time. Bob drove the Candy Cat and Joanne's son Bob rode with him. At one point, Bob called over the radio and asked if we were doing okay. When I pushed the button on the radio to talk, Joanne shouted that we were doing GREAT!!! lol!
When we got back, Valerie was shocked at how far we went. She was shocked that her mother went at all. After more pics, we went inside for lunch. Valerie had told me that her mother wasn't eating much these days due to the chemo treatments (she was diagnosed with liver cancer shortly after her 70th birthday last year), but she put a half of a croissant sandwich on her plate with a large mound of macaroni salad. She ate every bit of it and I think it was the adrenaline rush working!!!
I had put together a little gift bag for Joanne. In it was a small booklet that I made for her. I did a cover page with her picture and a title that said Joanne's First Prowler Cruise and a picture of the two cats we took. I wrote a letter to her that said......
Dear Joanne,
It has been a great pleasure and an honor to meet you and your family. It has been even a greater pleasure to be able to give you your very first ride in the car of your dreams.......
You are very fortunate to have family and friends who love you so much and have worked so hard to arrange this surprise for you.
I shared your story with the members of our Prowler community and they have posted their thoughts to you on our website. I have included these messages to you in this small momento of this occasion.
May God Bless You and keep you in his care and know that you are loved and treasured by your family and friends.
I included a printed copy of the thread that the owners posted to. She said she was going to read it when she was alone so she could cry. I responded that it wasn't supposed to make her cry and she said they were happy tears. She also said that her faith in people had greatly increased and marveled that people who didn't even know her would go to all that trouble. I also gave her one of the Candy Red diecasts and one of the Black Prowler diecast that came with the tin box, one of the Prowler notepads and a Candy Red Prowler pencil. I also gave her a copy of the Woodward Dream Cruise video that Mike and Karen just produced and she was anxious to see that. I told her that it was from the Prowler community. Joanne asked me to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers.
After a long afternoon of visiting with her and her family, we left at about 4:45 pm...........walking out the door feeling that we had known these people forever. She came back outside before we left and we did more pics. She whispered to me that she knew she was on borrowed time, but that this was one of the best things that happened to her. I told her that from the time we are born we are all on borrowed time and what we do with that time is what is important. She is a wonderful, spunky lady (even through the situation she is in right now) and I am very lucky to have met her and her family. She is very much loved and her family is lucky to have her. Valerie and I will stay in touch and she will keep me updated on her mother. I am going to send her the link to this thread, so if you like you can say hello to Joanne and Valerie.
As Prowler owners, we are very lucky to have these cars. It was such a moving thing for me to be able to share the enjoyment of these cars with someone like Joanne. They are special people indeed. I spoke with Valerie a couple of days ago to see how Joanne did after her special day. She said she was very tired, but very happy.
Thank you, Jerry and Valerie, for finding us and allowing us to be part of a very special day in Joanne's life.
Here are some pictures.........
This message has been edited by CJ on 09-21-2006 at 12:35 AM
