A reliable car - it's so important
Indulge me a little – does anyone else feel like this?
Meet Emily Fothergill – who for the last 10 years has been Em Allen.
Last weekend was our 10th Anniversary. One of our dearest friends pointed out ‘that’s 3650 days of wedded bliss’. And yes, it has been.
So we packed up our troubles, the fruit of our union, girl, girl, boy – nine, six and three and dropped them at Granny’s. Em and I to celebrate, 5 star in South Devon.
Is this just us?
The kids cross the threshold at Granny’s and are completely devoid of any emotion at the separation from their doting parents.
‘Mummy and Daddy will be gone for two whole nights’
‘Yeah, whatever?’
Granny waves us off with one hand and dispenses their drugs with other – Haribo.
Later it will be reported as, fruit, iPad and Nintendo DS. Granny knows best.
But what about Em and I?
We get in the car, I’m driving, I generally do but not in some 1930’s “men drive” kind of way. More an “I want to listen to the Test Match” kind of way. The rule in our car is, whoever drives, controls the music.
Not too much to fret over, Em’s asleep by Headington Roundabout, the traffic is dawdling and England bat on…
It’s a slow session along the M4 and an even slower one after tea on the M5.
I drift off from the tea and fruit cake of the cricket commentary.
I find myself smiling. I’m thinking back to 4000 days ago…
It’s a dark Saturday in October, the wind’s howling, the rain’s horizontal. We’re selling cars, it’s challenging, but we’re selling cars.
A beautiful girl walks from the car park towards the office, I March out to greet her with an umbrella.
She firmly shakes my hand
‘Hi my name is Emily Fothergill I’m looking for a reliable car…’
Well that’s what she got and I like to think all of our customers get a little more than they bargained for.
