Bought it in 2001

[VX KAT]

Hey Leah-

Just thought I'd pop in and ask how you're doin' and if Bertha sold?

Miss ya and hope you're well and happy!

p.s...sad news, Tom happened to find out that Handeeman passed way in January '12.... we miss him too.

[89Vette]

Wow! Amazing story.

I'm glad everything is "good" in the end. Kinda seems like "I hope you live happily ever after!" is the appropriate post to follow this up with!

CHEERS!!!

[Leah]

Wow! Amazing story.

I'm glad everything is "good" in the end. Kinda seems like "I hope you live happily ever after!" is the appropriate post to follow this up with!

CHEERS!!!

Thank you, 89Vette!

[Leah]

Hey Leah-

Just thought I'd pop in and ask how you're doin' and if Bertha sold?

Miss ya and hope you're well and happy!

p.s...sad news, Tom happened to find out that Handeeman passed way in January '12.... we miss him too.

Hi VX KAT,

Thank you for the information. I read your post and felt like I was kicked in the chest. I couldn't even reply right away because I couldn't bear to think about it. I can't believe He's gone. I knew something was up when he wasn't posting on here anymore but I thought maybe he was going through what I hoped was great times and being too busy with fun stuff. Handeeman was a wonderfully kind, thoughtful, sincere soul. It just kills me that he's gone too. How many more of our friends will we lose? I guess all of us eventually, eh? It's just too painful. And yet I never even met the man.

Does anyone know his wife or family? Maybe we can send flowers or something. I'd be happy to foot the entire bill if we could just get an address or something. Better late than never, as the saying goes.

He was SO funny! He did that whole thing with the VX Barbie traveling everywhere and posting. The only reason I knew anything about it was because he would email me and include me. He was such a kind person looking out for the downtrodden and wanting to make people laugh. He made such a deep impression on my life just through email and on this forum, I can't imagine the depth of the impression he left on those he actually spent time with. Goodbye Handeeman. You will be missed.

Well, to sum up my situation, I did sell the VX for $6,000 to a fellow who lives right down the road. We still can't afford to replace her yet with anything so I'm driving a 2004 Nissan Maxima my husband bought from his daughter 2 years ago before we got married. It's a really nice car, but it's just a car. I've tried hard to give her life, even named her, but she isn't part of me like Berthabeast was. Heh, I used to call us Beauty and the Beast, only I was the Beast and Bertha was the Beauty. I still walk out into the garage and take a moment to stand there and imagine her in her bay, waiting to go out to play. I would have given just about anything to find a way to get better gas mileage for her so I could keep her. The Maxima gets 32 and poor Bertha got 17 in town, 20 hwy, on a good day. As I watch the price of gas rise twice as much as it falls, I know I did the right thing, but it still hurts.

I'm a writer of fiction novels and one day I will actually publish one and when I do, I will make a pretty penny (I hope) and then I will hunt Bertha down and buy her back, even if she's in a junk yard somewhere in Japan.

The one thing I always wanted to do with her was to go to Moab. I dreamed of it. Maybe one day...

Big hugs to all my friends here. Thank you for remembering me.

Leah