We moved…to a dream house on Wood Avenue.
The Singer, the MG, two Hondas and a Ford camping van named “Large Marge” moved with us.
The house was fine the way it was, but we decided to tear out walls, rewire, replumb, build a monster hexagonal deck, landscape front and back yards, build a 150’ brick and cedar fence and create 3 new living spaces out of a huge unfinished attic.
The Singer had to wait a few more years…on shelves, in boxes and under tarps.
Meanwhile, I was taking severe ribbing from relatives, friends and even students about leaving the Singer “under wraps”. I tried to sell it once or twice locally and even a very long shot to a guy in Amsterdam, but no cigar.
Large Marge had to go (gracefully to a man with terminal issues who fell in love with her and set off on his last road trip). The Hondas were with us into the millennium, but just barely.
In 1996, with the help of Bob Rich, the MG’s engine got a gentle rebuild. However, in order to make room for that, most of the Singer parts had to be relocated, repacked and the large pieces moved from the garage to the outside. The Singer spent most the decade trying to stay out of the way under a tarp on the lower deck.
Then, in 1999 I retired from teaching and ran out of excuses.
The turn of the century (Y2K and the world did not come to an end and the computers did not crash). The Mundys were doing well. Cathy was still working and Skip did a part time gig at Pikes Peak Community College as well as fill up long days with projects long neglected…just not the Singer. We did amazing travels, walked the circumference of the the Isle of Wight, Cornwall, Land’s End, Devon…life was good.
Then came 9/11/2001. We had a daughter and son-in-law who worked in New York City near (and under) the World Trade Center. They were alive, but shattered by the experience. We did more travel as a family, and then Cathy had a stroke. Our lives changed as she regained usage of the right side of her body.
At a Thanksgiving dinner in 2016, nephew Jeremy offered to help restore the Singer. He had experience rebuilding old cars with his father-in-law, the tools and the garage. Finally, we could start to restore my Singer. I immediately started pulling together the material I had to bring Jeremy up to speed. There were three thick notebooks, hundreds of photos, letters, newsletters, receipts and stuff.
On the day after Christmas, Jeremy bailed and quickly moved to Utah. That was the last straw. I wasn’t waiting any longer. On January 3, 2017 I started interviewing 8 local mechanics. I was, by God, going to finish the Singer!!