I really didn't know what I was going to write today, but the weather here in Georgia is kinda chilly, very gloomy and foggy, yuck. I was in a relatively good mood this morning (despite upsetting the Mister because I snapped at him at 6am for tickling me) but when I got to work, my dad had some unfortunate news to tell me. A customer of ours passed away....
I work for my dad's company - JP's Muscle Cars - and we sell classic automotive restoration parts and I am the office manager. Another thing that we specialize in, other than car parts, is LS conversions (fancy engine conversion basically) and this customer who passed had just picked his car up the week before Christmas. I'm going to call the customer Mr. P.
We began dealing with Mr. P and his wife back in August when they came to the shop about wanting to get a conversion put in his 1967 Camaro. They are a lovely couple but sadly Mr. P had Parkinson's disease :( The morning that Mr. P, a friend of his and his son came to pick the car up, I watched him from the parking lot and I could see his body moving. I walked over to my desk and just lost it. It broke my heart because I was afraid that Mr. P would never be able to drive this car. He said that he wanted to give it to his grandson, but deep down I knew that this project was really for him too.
This past Friday afternoon Mr. P and his wife stopped by to drop off some extra parts that had been on his Camaro that he no longer needed. If you know anyone with Parkinsons, you know that sometimes it effects their speech and I noticed that he had a little bit of a hard time talking. They stayed for about 5 minutes and then headed on their way. We said our goodbyes and they said it would be about six weeks before we saw them again because Mr. P was having knee surgery.
They walked out of the show room door and that was the last time that I will ever see Mr. P again. Just a few minutes after they left, they were hit head on by a drunk driver and Mr. P passed away on Sunday from his injuries.
It has been very somber around the office this morning. My heart is just breaking for this family. Mr. P's son called my dad this morning and told him everything. They plan to finish the car in his memory. Mr. P's wife is currently in the hospital, but she will recover from her injuries and she is the one who said that they had to finish the car.
So, will you please say a prayer for Mr. P's family? And will you say a prayer for us too?
Thanks.
This breaks my heart. I'm so sorry for your loss and his family's loss. My heart is very heavy right now thinking about this...and how it happened. Life just seems so unfair at times and I don't understand why things happen the way that they do...and in a way I'm glad that I don't... Because I trust the One who does. However, even amongst such heartache, it is still nice to see that there are companies out there that genuinely care about their customers on this kind of level...now days those businesses are few and far between. I'm also happy that his family is going to continue building the car in his legacy...I know that they seem to be doing this in his honor, but in the end they are also gifting themselves a priceless treasure that will keep Mr. P's memory alive through generations to come. Thanks for sharing your heart on your blog...and for sharing a glimpse of Mr. P's life...it seems like he was a sweet man, among other great qualities.
ReplyDelete