I'm not quite sure if I'm new here or not.

I signed up years ago on a Cadillac forum, not sure if it was this one. After a few attempts at logging on, I simply registered.

A quick background: I can recall many years ago when I was growing up in the DC area. One Sunday after church, I walked outside and saw somebody who was just getting in his car -- a brand new Cadillac, around 1965 or 6. I commented something like, "Wow, I'll never be able to buy something like this!"

The fellow turned to me sharply and said, "Son, you have the ability to do anything you want to do. If you want a Cadillac, put your mind to it and someday you'll own a Cadillac." I sure don't remember the pastor's sermon that day, but I'll never forget that encounter and what the man said.

A few years later, in high school, I was walking across the school lawn and saw something shiny. It was a key ring, with no keys on it. It was gold and had a Cadillac emblem on it. I put it in my pocket and brought it home. I figured I might actually own one someday.

Fast forward several years. We all remember September 11. For a few months after, the economy tanked. It was on the news that car sales were way down, and that it was a buyers market. My Thunderbird was getting old, so I decided to go looking. I figured if the market was as bad as they say, I could find a nice used Cadillac for next to nothing. I found one, a 1993 Sedan DeVille. I brought it home, and by strange coincidence I happened to find that key ring I long forgot about. (I still have that ring, except it's broke and about to be tossed)

I drove that car for five years, then traded it for another -- a 1999 DeVille LaSalle Sedan. The LaSalle Sedan part is an aftermarket trim package, with cloth top and gold trim, etc. This car was 9 years old and brand new. I now have a whopping 45,000 miles on it. It is the nicest car I've ever owned.

I just bought another Cadillac -- this one for my wife. It's a 2009 CTS. It has both the performance package and the luxury package, so it's pretty loaded. I still like my DeVille -- too bad they can't make a car this size anymore. But I suppose that fellow back in the 60's was right; I now have his & hers Cadillacs. Uh, plus a 64 T-Bird, plus a Ford Ranger pickup . . . kind of a loaded garage for just the two of us.