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economist suntribune wheels thursday aug 8 2002 21 when it comes to driving dads hold a special place in our hearts by rhonda wheeler wheelbase communications my father is a brave man when i was six years old he sat me on his lap wrapped my fin gers around a steering wheel and let me hit the back roads near our cottage that rarely saw traffic he was also brave enough to pull through openheart sur gery i shared the story of my first driving lessons in a column that ran shortly after he was wheeled into the recovery room it was a catharsis for me i wanted to say thanks to my dad not just for well lets face it putting his life and trust in the hands of his youngest child but for everything he has done for me over the years promised myself i promised myself that if he made it through we would revisit those dirt roads that 20someodd years ago held nothing but promise for a little girl and her dad i cant even begin to tell you how much it touched me wrote tina from ventura county in california it could have been my story it really shook the old memory banks for her it dusted off memories of watching her dad build a dune buggy in the garage him letting her drive the ski boat and mugging for the cam era on the hood of her dads model a when she wasnt much bigger than a hubcap jack from halifax canada is one of those fathers with a big heart and puffed chest who fondly remembers the special connection he and his three children two boys and a girl shared your last line just a girl and her dad out for a drive especially moved me i guess because i have a 39-year- old daughter im 69 and i think we have always had a special bond too its a bond some of us take for granted until someone who never rhonda wheeler passed away wrote a woman named astrid but we would have enjoyed the outing even if he could nt have driven and then theres jennifer a 16- yearold student from las vegas who came home one day to find the article laying on her bed with a postit note that read jenni please read this and while youre reading think long and hard about what she is saying she felt tears welling up in her eyes my relation ship with my dad is just the same she wrote i came to live with him two years ago at the beginning of my freshman year in high school i used to live with my mom in new mexico and was only able to see my dad once every couple of years since then our relationship has grown and blossomed so much i honestly dont know what id do without him first set the two have been looking for jennis first set of wheels i dont know when or how i will get it but what i do know is when i do it wont just be my first car it will be the memory of my dad and i driv ing together taking one more step to adulthood jenni just remember that no mat ter where you go or how you get there you will always be his little girl im closing in on birthday 29 and mine still calls me peanut a faulty heart and foggy eyes stole my dads ability to drive but not his desire to keep teaching me more than 20 years after that first lesson dad still tells me how to drive only now i have learned to listen its funny how much smarter our parents become when we get older isnt it this summer when we travel those dirt roads again we will pick up where we left of just a girl and her dad out for a drive we may have lost our way but his heart led us back to where we belong rhonda wheeler is a journalist with wheelbase communications a had the joy of experiencing it points worldwide supplier of automotive out the error of our ways news features and reviews you can enjoyed outing email her at rhondawheelbasec- got my license after my father omcom premium loaded i low kms leather loaded leather moonroof 6 pack cd a qjcx mint condition l tram ifcw few grand am only 49000 kms auto air hurryi 1988 low kms leather great condition accord ex 21988 wowi ice cold air auto 4 door priced to move buck fully equipped excellent condition 13988 all prices plus pst gst admin lic gas acura in markham 5201 highway 7 east markham ontario 9059488866 wwwacurainmarkhamcom hwy 7 lt markville shopping centre acura rrran in 1 sss markham steeles z ft a tc t li 111 z z 401 0 o z m u 5 to advertise in our wheels section please call kim armstrong 905 2942200