Howdy Friends,

I remember the first time I met John Wallace.

I was camping in Death Valley. As luck would have it, my battery died (not
just run down, but dead dead) and I ran out of gas simultaneously!

After frying in the afternoon heat for several hours on an unseasonably warm
late summer afternoon, I saw a dot appear on the horizon. A vehicle! Someone
to rescue me! Unfortunately that dot didn't seem to be changing in size.
Surely it couldn't be a car approaching - it just wasn't getting any bigger.

An eternity passed.

As I sat 45 minutes, an hour, 90 minutes, that dot on the horizon slowly,
almost in perceptibly, grew. Was it my eyes playing tricks on me? Finally,
after the passing of more time than I care to remember, the form of a
Vanagon slowly began to take shape.

After an eternity or so, a Vanagon finally appeared and stopped next to
mine. From the air conditioned comfort, a jovial man jumped out, extended
his hand and said, "Howdy partner! I'm John Wallace. How can I help you
out?"

A godsend, this was my first moments in the presence of John Wallace. He ask
what the problem was and I explained. "My van is out of gas and my battery
is fried."

"No problem," replied John, "I can fix this." John immediately whipped out a
length of hose and began to siphon gas from his Vanagon into mine.

"But what will I do about my battery?" I asked.

"No problem," was the reply. "I have a dual battery set-up. I'll just give
you one of mine."

As luck would have it, John Wallace's Vanagon had a two-battery set-up. This
fine example of humanity was going to sacrifice and give me one of his
batteries.! Who was I to refuse?

As we set about swapping the battery I asked John Wallace why it took so
long for his Vanagon to make it to me since first appearing on the horizon.
"I was going as fast as I could," he replied. "Remember, I'm driving a
Vanagon!"

Once my van was gassed up and had a fresh battery installed, I was ready to
be on my way. But first I offered John Wallace money for the battery and the
gas. He turned me down. I insisted. He refused.

What a gentleman.

As John Wallace got in his van to continue on his way, one of his business
cards fell from the vehicle. I discretely picked it up and put it in my
pocket. Once I got home I put cash in an envelope and mailed it to the
address on John Wallace's business card.

Wouldn't you know it. A week or two later the letter was returned. "Return
To Sender - Address Unknown" was stamped on the envelope.

I'll never forget John Wallace.

Cheers,
Bruce
motorbruce@hotmail.com