Just wanted to add a little note here about Wasted Willie's final run..... I SWEAR this is gonna be a true story (I have a witness!!)
Willie's last run was Thursday and by all the miracles of the salt, I got the opportunity to ride in the push truck (my first) to start him on his way. While the crew was preparing to push the car back to the push truck, a bird (yup, bird, you know 2 feet, 1 beak, beady eyes, wings) landed on the cab of the push truck. I was surprised by his arrival and made a comment to the crew member standing next to me about the bird landing on the truck. As the bird sat there watching what was going on, I asked him if he was there to help Willie fly Home and got some single eye looks from the bird, first the left eye and then the right. After sitting there for a couple of minutes, he hopped down to the windshield wiper and looked in at the photographs that were on the dash, turned and looked at us and the race car and then flew away! Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but that sure was an odd thing to have happen at that particular time, especially since there were a LOT of cars in the staging lines at that time. So, I have decided that while we were feeling the sadness from the loss of Willie, the Salt Gods sent a guide to help him on his way to race across the sky and watch over us while we're on the salt.
I will always remember my first ride in a push truck, my first ride down the return road, and the first personal loss my Girls have had to deal with when Willie passed away. But the thing I will remember the most is....the little bird that came to help Willie fly.
Speedweek was the best ever!!! All of you were fantastic and patient with the looooong lines that we moved as fast as possible! Kudos to all of you for making my job so easy at Land's End!!!
By the way, the flowers Jim was holding at Land's End were for me, he was waiting for me to finish helping a spectator before he gave them to me! Also, I was deeply touched by the French Team when they stopped to say goodbye Friday morning. They surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses as a token of their friendship. There have been so many heartfelt moments this year, I can't thank all of you enough for sharing your dreams with me. So, all I know how to say is, "Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and Love you all!"
Stay Safe
Lynda