Liberated granny

Rokstad Ford probably never had a car sale quite like yesterday's. Take an 84-year-old great-grandmother, add a couple of her sons and a daughter. Throw in the grandkids from Tacoma. And, of course, the grandkids have a couple of her great-grandchildren. This four-generational crew all showed up at the same time at the Ford sales lot in Ponderay.

The salesman was probably thinking that Great-Granny Virginia came along for the ride. Well, he was in for a surprise. She came along for a new car, and she had a little help from her family. Being a smart salesman, Joe Johnson (SHS Class of 1974) directed Granny and her herd over to the Ford Freestyle line-up.

They're SUV's with three seats---one set that folds down for space, dual exhausts, sun roof, heated driver seats with adjustable height and back support, individual adjustable vents, floor shift----among other luxuries. Add in safety features galore and 18-24 miles per gallon on the gas.

She sat in the driver's seat of a pretty dark blue model. He showed her the range of adjustments. Then, he took her across the lot to try some other brands and models. Of course, she directed her feet and that cane right back to the Free Star. Then, it was time to take a spin. With her two adult sons sitting in the second seat and Joe, the salesman, in the front passenger side, she drove out of the lot and headed down the highway.

Within a few minutes, Joe was gently reminding Great-Granny Virginia that she was doing 70 mph. I'm sure she wasn't in Ponderay cuz she doesn't have any of their little extra speeding citations to add to the ticket price.

For the past several months, she's been having a problem every time she drives her Buick to town. Within minutes of taking to the road, she's had an excruciating pain in her back, which takes several hours to go away. After several sessions of facing the pain, she's cut back on her driving, relying on kids to take her to the grocery store. After a spin out of town and back to the car lot with the Freestyle, however, she says those adjustable seats actually help her back feel better.

And, she really likes that concept of heated seats. So, she bought the car. It took about four hours total, and, during that time, Joe, the salesman, got to hear a few of Great-Granny Virginia's Rosie the Riveter stories from her time spent at Kellogg Field in Battle Creek, Mich., during World War II. The rest of the sale staff listened in too; I think they were starstruck by Great-Granny Tibbs and her independent spirit.

She's proud that she whiddled down the price a bit. We, her family who got to watch, are proud of her for taking this step. If ever a car were well-named for its purpose with our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, it would be the Freestyle. For, it has provided a new sense of freedom for our most beloved and "stylish" Great-Granny Virginia Tibbs.

And, we're all sure that Great-Grampa Harold, an old Ford man from way back, is looking down from Heaven, checking out all the phenomenal features of that car and grinning from ear-to-ear.