In 1977 I was young and had lots of disposable cash. And lord knows I burned cash fast and hard.
I had a good job and little or no bills, so I bought a 1973 Cutlass Supreme. This was a fun car. It looked good and screamed when I hit the gas pedal. It was my first big expensive purchase as an adult.
I drove this car for about 6 months starting in the early summer of 1977. This was the summer that I met Rebecca Hoewing.
I’m not going to get into how we met again or anything about our dating life (I got some stories here!). For the sake of this story, let’s go straight to the night that I got engaged.
I picked Becky up at her brother’s house where she was living back then. We drove up to Frederick Maryland to have dinner. I can’t recall where we had dinner that night, but I do remember we talked a lot that night. We talked at dinner, as we walked the mall and then in front of the MacDonald’s where we stopped to get something else to drink.
Now – I’m not yet comfortable telling everyone how we got engaged. I assure you it’s not an event that would have been on Worlds Best Engagements or even on Worlds Funnies Videos.
We went to the local jewelry store and I broke the bank buying an engagement ring for Becky. Remember, this was 1977 and I no longer had lots of disposable cash because of the car and insurance payments.
It was nearly midnight when we started heading back to Poolesville. The excitement of the evening wore both of us out. As we drove into town, both of us started falling asleep. (Point of concern here – I was behind the wheel).
Becky was asleep beside me as I rounded the curve past the first church coming into town. I miscalculated the arc of the road and did not turn the wheel enough. The car went across the center line of the road and then off the road crashing into a telephone pole.
We were very fortunate that the car was only moving at about 35 miles per hour. However, going from 35 mph to 0mph instantly, was still a big crash.
Even though the car had them, back then we did not wear seatbelts. Becky’s face hit the windshield and the steering wheel plowed into my chest.
I’m not sure, but I think Becky was knocked unconscious for a little while. I got out of the car and ran across the street to the closest house. They heard the crash and came running out. I asked them to call the ambulance and I went back to Becky.
My chest was cut up a little bit, and Becky’s face was cut above the eye. Fortunately, no serious injuries at all.
The Ambulance came and they took us to the emergency room to be checked out. Both of our parents came to get us. They did not know that we had gotten engaged that night.
I had gotten engaged, lost my new hot rod car and put my fiancé to the test, all in less than 4 hours.
When I tell this story, I jokingly say that I ignored the warning, and went ahead and got married. However, I truly believe that this accident was God’s first test for us as a couple. We struggled thru the physical and financial pain of the accident and went on to have an ongoing fabulous marriage.
I don’t recommend this test for anyone; it was just another example of how Teddy handles challenges and then moves on to create happiness.
This has been another story shared by Teddy Burriss. I hope you enjoyed it.
Teddy Burriss 