| The Legend of Mr. Plum |
| I heard about an old, dear friend of mine this week. I haven't seen him in
nearly seven years, and I've missed him terribly. He was always so reliable, so
dependable, so filled with unconditional caring. He also was a close personal
friend of my wife and two of my children. |
| I first met him at Paul Brothers Oldsmobile and Subaru in downtown Herndon
in 1993. He was just sitting there, all by himself, without a friend in sight.
He begged to be talked to, to have people pay attention to him, and to be taken
for a ride. |
| There was a reason why most people avoided him: He was purple. He was a Subaru
Legacy Sport Wagon. |
| It was late in the model year and no one seemed to be much interested in a
purple Subaru without all-wheel drive. It did come with a free bike rack, however,
something I needed like a hole in the head. |
| But Joe Paul, the big mucky-muck down at Paul Brothers Oldsmobile and Subaru,
gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. (Well, I could have refused it, but when Joe
says he's got an offer you can't refuse, he's got an offer you can't refuse.)
So I left Joe's lot that day with a new purple friend. |
| My son, Will, called him either the "Purple People Eater" or "The
Grape Ape." |
| I called him Mr. Plum. |
| He was a great car with a sun roof, a really nice radio, and for the first
time in many years, I owned a car without a clutch. I had forgotten they made
automatics. |
| After a couple of years Will was Mr. Plum's major driver, and when Mr. Plum
asked to have his windows darkened, Will obliged. They were quite a happy pair. |
| We drove Mr. Plum in Herndon and on vacations for about three years, until
my son decided to attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1996. |
| Will and I drove Mr. Plum the 1,300 miles to Lincoln, listening to Garth Brooks,
eating junk food, and having a grand time all the way. Mr. Plum purred along I-80
for two days. I flew back home and Will drove him around Nebraska for that school
year and then back to Herndon the next year. |
| Mr. Plum was still purring along. |
| In 1997, my daughter Molly and her husband Fred needed a new car. So I offered
Mr. Plum to them "at an offer they couldn't refuse," like Joe Paul says. |
| Then Molly's family began to grow and they traded old Mr. Plum in for a new
car, some fancy-dancy car that surely wasn't plum. I didn't even have the chance
to say "good-bye," "bon voyage," "happy trails to you,"
or even "see you down the road, Jack." |
| It was a a sad day in the Grein household. |
| But then it happened: Like the prodigal son, Mr. Plum was back in town. Well,
almost: He was in Annapolis. |
| My wife, Betsy, was the first to hear the good news this week. She was so
excited she called The Observer staff around her, like a chicken with her chicks,
to tell them that Mr. Plum had come home! |
| Wait a minute! It's only a car, they said. Yes, she said, but no ordinary
car: It's Mr. Plum! |
| We all doubt he'll remember us. He's a little older, has a few more miles
on him, probably faded from the hot Maryland sun. |
| How did that circle complete itself? Seems like one of The Observer's insurance
agents has a friend in Annapolis. He was visiting her this weekend and reached
in the glove compartment for some information on this old purple Subaru Legacy
Sports wagon. |
| There he found oil-changing receipts and gas receipts in the name of Tom Grein
and Will Grein. He then called Betsy to find out how that all came to be; how
Mr. Plum had almost come home again. |
| They like the car. His friend especially likes it because her dog has all
kinds of room in it. |
| That's almost the end of the story, but I hope Mr. Plum comes back to Herndon
long enough so he can visit Joe Paul and say hello to his old friends, Betsy,
Will, Molly and Tom. |
| If some dog owners can call their dogs "canine citizens," can I
call Mr. Plum my "car citizen," and demand that the Herndon Town Council
provide a car park for him where he can socialize with other cars? |
| I think so! |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
