100 Year Old's Birthday Gift, a Ride in Her '41 Ford

From the Oct. 21, 2013, Yahoo! Shine by Beth Greenfield.

Helen Wall of Massachusetts was in her 20s when her husband Wally shipped off for World War II as a fighter pilot. He had just recently bought a brand new 1941 Ford Super Deluxe convertible for $1,100. On his return from service, they drove that car for ten years.

This past Monday, just a couple days from her 100th birthday, she got a special birthday ride in that very same car. Her husband died 21 years ago, but back in the 1950s, they sold the car for a couple thousand dollars in order to buy a VW bus they needed for their greenhouse business.

The buyer of the car was neighbor Ed Smith, who, a short time later moved several towns away. Smith is a vintage car collector and kept the vehicle and still owns it.

On Monday, he drove it to the care center where Helen Wall lives and picked her up. She is in the nursing home only because she can no longer walk.

Afterwards, she related some favorite memories of the car like driving around with the top down, the color of it and her getting a drivers license just before they bought it. She said her husband tried to teach her but got mad and quit. She went on to get driving lessons on her own and passed.

That Was Sure Some Birthday Present. --RoadDog