[Joeaksa]

My 1969 XJ was purchased by my Father brand new in 1970 and has been in the family "more or less" since new. That said, when I left the mid-west in 1979 I gave the car to one of my best friends with the agreement that when I returned I got it back. Returned in 1995 and could not find Keith, nor the car.

Searched for almost a year and finally found him. He had been living in Wichita when I left and his parents just South of Fort Worth. He had moved to Houston and the car had been in his parents garage in Texas for many years, then towed to Houston where it sat on jackstands for almost 20 years.

We got in touch, met for dinner several times and briefly chatted about the car but not in depth. "There will be time for that when you get it back" he always said. Late January 2001 his wife called and it turned out that Keith had a blood clot go into his lungs and he had passed. I went down to Houston and helped his wife and daughter sort out things and as I was ready to leave she said that I needed to come to the garage. There sat my Fathers XJ, waiting. A few months later and it was back in my garage and we were working on restoring it. Its about 75% completed and driveable again.

Also did a search and found 3 of the old airplanes that my Father flew as a young student. Also found several others that were not flying. When I get some more time will try to get in touch with some of these owners and try to get a ride in one of them. Dad would have liked that...

Joe