BLAINE, Minn — Life’s roads have their twists and turns, so Curt Johnson certainly prefers to ride in style.
Curt loves to drive around Blaine in his 1964 Oldsmobile F85 Cutlass Convertible, which he considers a member of the family. But at first, it was to his wife, Jane’s, dismay.
“I was very angry when he bought the car,” she laughed.
But when Curt bought it in 2009, it came with more than a set of keys. In it, he found an old-fashioned protect-o-plate with clues leading to the original owner, Helen Kosmata.
Fifteen years later, he continues to call the 92-year-old Californian bi-weekly.
“We’re on the phone for like an hour and a half,” he chuckles.
Almost like relatives, but they didn’t meet until Saturday.
As Helen pulled up to Curt’s driveway, he sat around the corner in the beloved light blue convertible.
As Jane greeted Helen, Curt finally started pulling up with her old, beloved car..
“Oh there it is!” she exclaimed, as she buried her face in her hands, but made sure to spread her finger for her eyes. “Oh, look at that car!”
Curt parked his so-called ‘third child’ and took his long-distance friend of more than a decade into his arms for the first time.
“Nice to finally meet you,” he said.
As he took her for a spin in her cherished Oldsmobile for the first time in 30 years, she complimented his care for her old ride and giggled at the sound of her old car.
Reluctantly she got out of the vehicle after a short drive to meet his family, and exchange photographs and letters they sent to one another over the years.
Helen lost sight of it after she gave it to her nephew in 1991. And while a car is a great gift, she unintentionally gave Curt more than a joyride.
“We redid a car, an old car,” Curt said as he recalled happy times with his brother, Brian. “When he was 45 he took his own life. And at the time, I was going through a lot of grief.”
So, he said, he bought a car.
“This helped me with the grief.” Curt said.
Later on in the afternoon, Curt happily lent Helen her original key to her very first car.
“Look out world,” she exclaimed as she put the convertible into drive. “This is like 1964 all over again!”
They went on to spend the weekend together, taking turns at the wheel. And the unlikely friends would agree that whether life is smooth or bumpy it certainly helps to have the right passenger.
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