'You don?t see armored cars following hearses?

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Maybe it has been around for a long time, but I had never heard the expression before.|ret||ret||tab|

Let me back up a minute and tell you how it all came about and why it struck me the way it did.|ret||ret||tab|

It was one of the few times that the airfare specials on TWA had worked for me; I had flown into Springfield on a $99 round-trip, a leave on Friday and return on Monday or Tuesday special. |ret||ret||tab|

Rick Hill from Youngblood Motors met me at the airport and took me to the dealership to pick up the PT Cruiser I had ordered for my wife. (It was the best car-buying experience I have ever had. Great service and one of the very few dealers in the country that did not price the PTC at a premium over sticker.)|ret||ret||tab|

After being shown where all the gadgets and gizmos were on the car, so I wouldn't make a fool of myself by turning on the windshield wipers when I thought I was dimming the lights and other such acts caused by too much ego and too little knowledge, I grabbed a fast sandwich at the Country Kitchen and headed toward home.|ret||ret||tab|

Believe it or not, Linda had never had a new car I mean not ever being of the school that says cars are for going from point A to point B, and as long as they accomplish that their age is irrelevant. But she had fallen in love with the retro styling of the silver Cruisers. |ret||ret||tab|

Casting aside (way aside) her reluctance to agree to spend anything over a couple of month's worth of grocery and beer money on a vehicle, the PTC became her Car of Cars. ("Maybe it's got to do with the fact that I can't tell one car from another except a PT Cruiser, which I can spot blocks away," she mused.)|ret||ret||tab|

So, I was on the road on June 13, driving as though patches of ice spotted I-44; no way was I going to put even a hint of a scratch or ding on my wife's new treasure. Nor was I going to run the risk of spilling my Diet Coke on the upholstery, which was why I pulled into rest stops for the pauses that refresh. And how I came to hear the expression for the first time.|ret||ret||tab|

A couple about my age (but still getting around well) parked next to the PTC. |ret||ret||tab|

"How do you like it?" the man asked. I told him I had just taken delivery of it and hadn't really had time to check it out thoroughly, but that it was fun to drive. I went on to tell him about Linda's philosophy about cars, the fact she had never had or wanted a new one but was incredibly excited about getting "My New PT Cruiser."|ret||ret||tab|

The lady, whom I assumed was his wife, commented that it was very nice of me to do that for my wife, which made me feel good. (I thought it would take the shine off the compliment if I told her we paid for it out of a joint account, so I kept my mouth shut.)|ret||ret||tab|

What I didn't mention was something my wife had said to me in May. We had lost our mutual best friend, Hank, to a heart attack on Easter Sunday. He was only 53. It was a shock a stomach wrenching blow that dazed us. It had been only in the last couple of years that we had worked out our schedules and family commitments to be able to get together more, to take a few golf trips, to visit them in Chicago and they us in southern Illinois, to celebrate our friendship. |ret||ret||tab|

As Linda and I talked about it, perhaps in hopes that talking would ease the hurt, we discussed the things that we had planed on doing with Hank and his wife (interestingly, also named Linda). |ret||ret||tab|

It was then that my wife said, "We have all the things the creature comforts we need. Rather than spending money on accumulating things, let's spend it on creating memories." |ret||ret||tab|

And since then that is what we have been doing; stretched week-end trips to Chicago for concerts with one daughter and son-in-law, touring northern New Mexico with our daughter who lives in Santa Fe, and a planned father/son golf trip to Scotland.|ret||ret||tab|

The PTC is the last thing of significant cost that we are likely to acquire. We are not profligate spenders; memories aren't necessarily expensive. But they are incredibly valuable for our families and us.|ret||ret||tab|

There are values in all this that were expressed so very well by the guy in the parking lot at the rest stop, who said, "You don't see armored cars following hearses." |ret||ret||tab|

(Clark Davis is a 30-year investment veteran and CEO of Saint Louis Investment Advisors, a specialized money management company. Ques-tions or comments can be directed to him by mail via The Springfield Business Journal, 313 Park Central West, 65806 or by e-mail at sbj@sbj.net.)[[In-content Ad]]