[Lee Stewart]

Across the street from my house in N. Merrick L.I. were the Brenners: Bob and Gail. He was a math teacher at Valley Stream High and I can't remember where Gail worked. Anyways Bob sorta took me under his wing and took over the role as Dad for me when I was 11. My parents had got divorced. He was so cool.

He had this old Model A 1931 Ford his father gave him and on weekends I would help him clean it up and do light sanding. It had something I had never seen before: a Rumble Seat.

One weekend during the summer of 1963 (I was 12) I went to help and the car wasn't in his garage. I asked him what happened to it. He told me not to worry - it would return in a couple of weeks. Sure enough it did. He took it to Earl Scheib and had it painted then brought it to some place where they did the upholstery: dark gray.

"Want to take a ride?"

So we went, just the two of us for a short ride. I told him we should get Gail and go for ice cream. That way I could ride in the rumble seat. And the coolest part of the car . . . the ahooga horn.

They had twins: Alexander and Gigi. Once I hit 14 I was their baby sitter. My son Alex is named after the boy. I took care of the kids until I was 16 when we left L.I. and moved to Forest Hills.

Bob's car - it had maroon wheels.