BILL CADY Word Count: 149,227 - At My Friend's Place

Bill Cady, The Early Years … by Bill Cady 66
Dad made a reasonably pissy living by selling the highest priced furniture within
a few hundred miles, everywhere outside the Detroit area. Most of his buyers were
wealthier people from the nicer neighborhoods. Not anyone who‟d invite a guy like Fred
Cady to dinner.
Mom was the housekeeper for a sorority in East Lansing, plus she worked at
Gamble‟s Hardware, on the west end of town, evenings and weekends. What a lazy
bitch, right? Then she had to keep house. Tend to two growing boys. Shop for food and
prepare meals. Do the cleaning. On and on. No wonder she never spent any time
reading. She had too damned much to do.
Still, with all that, we were barely getting by.
The history of our cars should give you a better understanding. Dad only bought
new cars. He knew that was the wisest way. So, he bought a 1955 Willys. No shit. A
passenger car made by Willys-Overland, the company that also made the Jeep. A two-
tone coupe; red on the bottom, white on top. At least it was a two-door.
They traded it in and came home one day with a brand-new Studebaker Lark, a
1960 model. A cream colored two-door, “three on the tree” stick shift with an AM radio.
That was the only option on our car.
In 1964, we traded up. He bought a 1964 Studebaker Daytona, light blue, a four-
door. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to have my pals see me in that
squared off, boxy car? Well, at least it was an automatic. Their first.
Dad traded again in 1969 for a Dodge four-door, light green with a black vinyl
top. Automatic, power steering, and a radio. What a luxury ride. I don‟t recall the
model, but it was a full-size car. Years later, with my folks still driving that Dodge, I was
Leviticus, Limited 33-0505963