As a family in the late 40’s, being able to get places was a high priority.  We had one car.  It had to get my father to work and back, my mother to the store, doctor appointments, the cleaners, to grandma’s, and to children’s activities.  Throughout our youth, we owned cars designed for families.  Ford station wagons were the most popular. Then my grandparents came to live with us and my grandfather brought a 1949 Oldsmobile into the fold.  My dad drove the Olds to work, leaving my mother the more dependable Ford.  Dad was the Assistant Principal at Thomas Jefferson Junior-Senior High School, and I was in the ninth grade.  I rode to school with him. And I hated the Oldsmobile.  It whistled like the popcorn wagon and people turned to look when we passed by.  When we got near the school, I scrunched down in the seat so no one could see me.

When Rob and I finally left the nest, my father bought his heart’s desire, a new Lincoln Mark IV.  White as snow, sunroof, leather seats.  He was so proud of that car. My children loved that car.  They would stand on the back seat and stick their heads out of the sunroof opening (long before seatbelts).

And it was a beautiful car.  But it had one drawback.  It was enormous.  It took up an entire parking space with no room to spare.  At a grocery store, at work, at the apartment, it was a target for careless door openers.  My father became the guru of proper, protective parking.  His life’s focus was on protecting the paint job on that car.

At the apartment, dad parked in the far lot to avoid having to park next to any other cars Nobody wanted to park in the far lot because it was too far to walk to the buildings, so dad’s car was safe.  Carrying packages or groceries was a challenge, but the car was safe.  He didn’t want any door dings.

Dad discovered early on that the parking spaces at the old DPS Administration Building parking lot were small and crowded.  It was impossible to consistently find a place on the street.  He decided he simply couldn’t drive his new car to work.  So he decided my mom had to drive it to her work at Pitts School.  He provided her with clear instructions about how to park the Mark.  Now, mom was a tiny person; 5’ 2’, 100 lbs.  Not only did she have to drive that enormous car, but she was not to park it in the lot.  She had to park it on the street across from the school in view of her office windows.  She was instructed to keep her eye on it to make sure it was alright.  Every weekday from September to June it was parked there.  And every weekend and throughout the summer, it was parked at the far lot at the apartment building.   At the grocery store, it was the same – park far away or take up two parking spaces.

The Mark was ding free for a long time, and it sparked the inventor in my dad.  Long after it had been traded for another vehicle, my dad invented a car door protector.  It was a 10 x 14-inch pad with internal magnets that could be placed on the outside of the car door to protect it in the event it got hit by a careless parker.  I still have the plans and the prototype of that door protector today.  But one thing I will never have is a Mark!