1964 Ford Fairlane

“One more signature right here Mr. Moore and you will be the proud owner of a brand new Ford Fairlane.”

James Moore signed his name one last time and took the two sets of keys that the salesman handed over. He walked out of the dealership grinning from ear to ear and looked at the new car one more time. At twenty years old he had stumbled into a well paying management position at the sawmill, a rare thing for someone as young as he was. Now here he was a year later buying his first new car. The 289 V8 engine roared to life with a turn of the key, quickly settling into an easy and quiet idle. James put the car into drive and with only a slightly longing look at the new Mustangs that shared the lot he pulled out onto the road and pointed the car to its new home.

“Mary, come on out and take a look. I got us a new car.” James was sure that she would like it. The Pheonician Yellow car was as close to her favorite color as he could get.

“It looks really nice James. That is a very nice color.”

“Look at this babe! It has a 289 V8 engine and a three speed Cruise-O-Matic transmission! Isn’t it grand!”

Mary looked at James and smiled. “I am sure all of that is impressive to your friends, but you know that I have no idea what any of it means.”

“Well, take a look inside then. Go around and sit in it.”

“Look see, it has vinyl seats. They’ll be easy to keep clean. And it has an AM/FM radio.”

“That’s fab James. Sure is a lot of room in here.”

“I wanted to make sure we have plenty of room later. You know, once our family gets bigger.”

Mary reached across the seat and took James by the hand, “Can we go for a ride?”

“Sure thing babe.”

James started the car up and headed out onto the highway.

“Feel how smooth that transmission is? So much better than pop’s old farm truck. Hey, why don’t you find something on the radio?”

Mary turned the radio on and turned through the static until she found a station that they both liked. Normally it would be playing the latest popular music, but at the moment there was a news broadcast.

“Hey, James, they’re talking about that new group you like, the Beatles.”

“Yeah, I heard that they’ve come to America and are supposed to be on the Ed Sullivan show.”

“Wow, that’s groovy James. We should check it out.”

Riding around in the car quickly became James and Mary’s favorite pastime. There really wasn’t much else to do in their small town. James would go into the sawmill each morning and after work he would pick Mary up from the diner on the way home. In between songs they would listen to the news and events happening around the country. The 1964 election season would bring out a political discourse from James on who was the best fit to run the country while Mary would become afraid and quiet when the newscast would mention the rising conflict in Vietnam. Other times they just listened to the news concerning the ongoing Civil Rights movement and the related protests.

On November 3rd, 1964 it was announced that Lyndon B. Johnson had been elected the President of the United States. James was mostly happy about that; it seemed to him that Johnson was doing a fair enough job with keeping the country together through the threat of war and ongoing political movements.

In the meantime, James and Mary continued about their lives and taking their daily drives in the Ford Fairlane. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they cried, sometimes they even had a light hearted argument over some new policy or protest movement. For the most part however, they went about their daily lives little affected by the news.

In March of 1965 the newscaster’s announcements hit a little closer to home. On March 7th a large group of people began the march from Selma, Al to Montgomery, Al in honor of a Civil Rights worker, Jimmie Lee Jackson, that had been killed. They were not even out of Selma when the march was stopped with force. The next day, March 8, it was announced that the United States of America was officially entering the Vietnam War. The end of March brought better news with updates on the success of the Gemini 3 mission. James had become very interested in the space program. It was almost like the nickel and dime science fiction paperback books he had read as a boy were coming to life. The space program updates had quickly become his favorite thing to listen to.

It was the space program that encouraged James to begin studying to become an engineer. He knew that he would never be an astronaut, but just maybe he could find a job with NASA. It wasn’t easy, but Mary supported her husband and started picking up more hours at the diner.

In March of 1966 James began to change his opinion of President Johnson when it was announced that there would be an increase in the troops being sent to Vietnam. He reassured Mary that he had no plans of signing up with the military. In April James and Mary cheered at the radio as they broadcast the news of Bobbi Gibb running the Boston Marathon. It was a proud day for women everywhere. They cried together when it was announced that Walt Disney had died on the 15th of December.

In January they laughed at the news of Dr. James Bedford being cryogenically frozen after his death.

“That really is some science fiction stuff Mary. Who would’ve thought?”

In March Mary turned the radio on just in time to hear about Jimmy Hoffa being sentenced to eight years in prison.

They almost took a trip to San Francisco until they heard the news about the Summer of Love. They decided that such a thing might not be the best place for a young married couple. Throughout the news of the hippy movement and the many race riots, James and Mary continued on with their lives. James was still working at the sawmill and doing quite well with that. The upper management was even helping him pay for the night classes that he was taking. Mary continued working at the diner, mostly making enough to pay for their date nights and the occasional drive in movie. Sometimes they would discuss children but agreed that it would be better to wait a little while.

In 1968 they drove two hours away to try the much publicized Big Mac. The ride home was when they heard the news that Martin Luther King Jr. had been murdered. In March Robert F. Kennedy announced that he would be running for President. James began to follow the news closely and with high hopes, but his hope was shattered when Robert Kennedy was assassinated in June.

October brought some small joy with the Apollo 7 mission. They drove the Fairlane to the diner and along with half the town watched the first live broadcast from orbit. It was such an exciting time for everyone. While many did not fully understand it, everyone knew that this was a major milestone for America. The town was still talking about when the news came in December that Apollo 8 had successfully orbited the moon. For the first time ever, man had seen the dark side of the moon.

In January 1969 they listened to the car radio as Richard Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States of America. Everyone was hopeful that Nixon would fulfil his campaign promises of bringing the Vietnam War to an end. That same day James and Mary closed on a house. They moved out of the small rental house and into a lovely three bedroom ranch house. It sat on a ten acre site. Just perfect for the small homestead farm that they had always talked of.

In March 1969, just a few days after James had put the finishing touches on the new barn, they drove to the ice cream parlor and listened as the announcer talked about the success of the Apollo 9 mission. The testing of the lunar module meant that men, American men, would soon walk on the surface of the moon.

In July of that year James decided it was time to buy a television set. He decided to make a date out of it and they drove into a neighboring town. James stopped at the Sears and Roebuck store and had them service the Fairlane while they bought the television set. He found the biggest one that he could still fit in the car and had it loaded up. On the way home from a wonderful Italian meal they heard the news of the failed Russian attempt to launch their own space rocket as well as the death of Brian Jones.

On July 20th, James took the day off of work and watched the live broadcast as Neil Armstrong piloted the lunar module to the surface. He cheered as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface and uttered his famous words, “That’s one small step for man… One giant leap for mankind.”

Shortly after the broadcast, the doorbell rang. James opened the door to find the mailman standing on the porch.

“Afternoon Bob, how can I help you?”

“James, I..I am so sorry.” He held a letter out to James. From the envelope James could see that it was some sort of official letter. He exhaled a breath that he hadn’t realized that he was holding. He had heard about these letters but hoped that one would never show up at his house.

“Not your fault Bob. It was bound to happen sometime.” James signed for the letter and went back into the house where he collapsed into his chair.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” Mary came out of the bedroom that they were preparing for their coming baby. “Who was at the door?”

“It was Bob. You know, the mailman.”

“Oh, well whatever could he want?”

“He was delivering this.” James held up the notice.

“Well what is it James, you look something awful. Did someone die?”

“I’ve been drafted Mary. I’m going to Vietnam.”

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Chris pulled into the driveway and shut his car off. He stared out the house as memories came flooding back. Some good, some not so good. As much as he loved the old house and the cherished summers running through the woods, he was glad that his mom had decided to move into something smaller. It had to be tough taking care of such a big place. They had cleaned out the house, selling off what wouldn’t fit in her new home.

“Hey dad, what’s in there?” His son, James pointed over to the old barn. It was showing its age and lack of upkeep.

“Come on son, I’ll show you. The last thing that we have to move is in that barn. Let’s go take a look.”

The rusted hinges creaked and groaned as Chris muscled big doors open. Dust motes floated through the sun rays.

“Wow, what is it dad? And why is it parked in this dusty old barn?”

“It’s a 1964 Ford Fairlane son. It was my dad’s car. He parked it in here when they sent him to Vietnam.”