Some categories of regrets resonate more than others, such as cars and romantic targets. One of my regrets includes both. Upon graduating high school my girlfriend broke up with me. I maintained a close relationship with her parents as they seemed to enjoy my company much more than their daughter did. The car owned by the father was a 1954 Austin Healey 100-4. It was a bit rough but didn't have any rust and was generally complete. I was drawn to the car by it's simplicity, beauty and that folding windscreen was so cool. Fortunately I was fairly flush with funding as my college job was checking groceries making union wage. I contacted my former girlfriend's father to discuss the possibility of a sale and not only did he agree to a discussion, he also invited me to dinner. We enjoyed the dinner, had a very nice chat, but I didn't negotiate the sale at all. To this day I don't know why. I did have a couple of other cars at the time, a 1967 Alfa GTV, a 1967 Fiat 850 spider and a 1964 Ford Falcon V8 convertible. The Healey would have had to rest a couple of years while I worked and went to college full time so who knows how it all would have panned out. For me the far greater regret is the car, although at the time I certainly pined much more for the girl. Time has granted me the wisdom to understand that cars are far more easy to fix than some relationships. How I would love to have that Healey in my garage today, waiting on whatever it needed from me.
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