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I've been meaning to get this out on forum for awhile, just haven't found the right time. Since it's a week before Christmas and little action happening here on the forum, I thought I would tell my story. I apologize for the length, but all of it needed to be included. Thanks for reading my short novel...
“What are you doing with your car?” It's been asked by many of my C5G comrades lately prompted by my latest modifications. Well, most of you know that my Dad lived with me the past two years battling Leukemia. It was a long and difficult two years for all of us. The first year was filled with many kinds of treatments. He had also fallen and broke his hip which is what prompted him moving in with me so we had months of rehabilitation to help with his hip issue along with the cancer treatments. They would not operate on his hip due to the Leukemia. In the first year, beside all of the treatments at the cancer center, we were in and out of the hospital for pneumonia, mrsa virus, blood transfusions, etc. It seemed like one thing after another. While it was affecting me mentally, my Dad maintained his fight and never gave up hope to getting better. This spoke volume to me and like I posted on Facebook the day he died (9-11-13), “Dad showed me how to live AND how to die.”
In August of 2012, my Dad was in the hospital with pneumonia and had just gone through his fifth bone marrow test (spinal tap) that year. Dad’s cancer doctor told us that the test came back unfavorable and he gave my Dad two months to live if he recovered from the pneumonia. At that time, Dad was so bad off from the pneumonia; the doctor at one point gave my Dad two weeks to live. Dad recovered from the pneumonia and we proceeded on for what we thought we had, two months. The doctor stopped all of his treatments saying there’s nothing else we can do. We accepted it and planned accordingly based on what the doctor said. Dad however, again, kept going and still stayed positive and hoped things would get better. Our daily/weekly routine had changed drastically since we were not going for treatments; we were only seeing the doctor once a month for a blood check. The two months passed and Dad actually started feeling better. We were all surprised and the doctor said he had no explanation for his improvement. He said, keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll take it.
My Dad really enjoyed being outside. He loved hunting, fishing, golfing, gardening, anything to do with outdoors. Because he had been sick so much in 2012 he was not able to be outside much, however, this past summer was different for him. He continued to feel pretty good and was able to be outside a lot. He could not do much, but had the strength to spend a lot of time sitting on our deck and with me in the garage. He was a car guy too and a mechanic back in the day, and as soon as I would go out to work on any of the cars, he was out there with me telling me what I was doing wrong. He developed an interest in the Camaro and each time I had something done to the car, he couldn’t wait to see how it turned out. Many times this past spring and summer, I would pull into the driveway after a car show and he would be sitting in the garage with the door up waiting on me wanting to know how I did in the event. When I had the LT headers installed with the Borla ATAK exhaust system, he just grinned when he heard the car exhaust roar. He truly enjoyed and appreciated what I was doing on the car. On July 7th of this year, Dad felt strong enough to go with me to the Mahomet Car Show where my brother lives. He was able to see what a show was like with all the old cars from his time and took it all in watching people stop by my car talking about it and asking questions. That was a special day I’ll never forget. I didn’t take home a trophy that day, but having Dad there was better than any trophy.
Right after I got back from Camaro Fest in August, I had noticed my Dad was not feeling well. This had happened before and it only lasted a couple of days, but this time was different. For some reason, he was not springing back. Dad was having severe pain periodically in his side. We visited the doctor and they ordered a scan to have a look see. It turned out to be a mass in his kidney and the doctor was pretty sure it was cancerous. They could not treat him without doing a biopsy. I was nervous about them doing it but the doctor said it was no big deal, minor in and out procedure so my Dad wanted it done. His thought was that if there’s something they can do to treat it; he should do it, again still having hope. The biopsy was scheduled while I was in Dallas for work so my brother was to come over and take him to have it done. My Dad had had a rough weekend before and I tried to get him to cancel it, but he did not want to do that. So the morning of 9-11-13, my brother took him to the hospital for the biopsy. Long story short, my Dad had complications from the biopsy developing internal bleeding and they could not get it stopped. He was in ICU and I was made aware of his condition. I went to the DFW airport to get home as fast as I could but Dad passed away that evening while I was still at the airport. I did not get to say goodbye, but I told Melissa on the phone to tell Dad that I loved him and that everything would be okay.
Because we knew the day was coming, we had his accounts and such already in order. My Dad was not a rich man, but was leaving my brother and me a small amount of inheritance. In preparing, my Dad had told me to enjoy what was there. One thing I remember about my Mom (passed in 1999) and Dad, they always thought of their kids before themselves and wanted us to be happy more than anything. If you’re parent, you know what I mean. Because of this, I was thinking about what to do that my Dad would appreciate. I thought; since my Dad enjoyed my car almost as much as I did, what could I do that would really set it apart and make a huge difference in its presentation. Since I had previously wanted to install a Cam at some point which Dad knew about, I thought that would be cool to do. Then it hit me. Why not go all out and Supercharge the car as well! Really make it a “Beauty and a Beast”. I talked it over with Melissa and she said, absolutely, Dad would have loved that! I’m fortunate in that Melissa loved my Dad as much as I did.
Because of their reputation and love for Camaro’s, I contacted Stefano at NicKey Chicago and explained what I wanted to do and why I was doing it. I had a goal in mind to break the 600rwhp mark and the car had to sound amazing too. Stefano and I talked several times to where we had the to-do list pretty well nailed down when I dropped the car off for its transformation. How fitting, I dropped Inferno off at NicKey’s shop on 10-16-13 which would have been my Dad’s 86th birthday. I was fortunate when I dropped the car off that Stefano had three 5th Gen Camaros with NicKey Stage 1, 2, and 3 Cam’s. I listened to all three and as soon as I heard the Stage 2 ZL1 car startup, I knew it was the one for me. Four weeks later, my brother and I picked up the newly transformed Inferno. It was everything I hoped it would be. Now, every time I fire up Inferno I will think of my Dad and picture that grin on his face. Priceless!
“That’s what I’m doing with my car...”
“What are you doing with your car?” It's been asked by many of my C5G comrades lately prompted by my latest modifications. Well, most of you know that my Dad lived with me the past two years battling Leukemia. It was a long and difficult two years for all of us. The first year was filled with many kinds of treatments. He had also fallen and broke his hip which is what prompted him moving in with me so we had months of rehabilitation to help with his hip issue along with the cancer treatments. They would not operate on his hip due to the Leukemia. In the first year, beside all of the treatments at the cancer center, we were in and out of the hospital for pneumonia, mrsa virus, blood transfusions, etc. It seemed like one thing after another. While it was affecting me mentally, my Dad maintained his fight and never gave up hope to getting better. This spoke volume to me and like I posted on Facebook the day he died (9-11-13), “Dad showed me how to live AND how to die.”
In August of 2012, my Dad was in the hospital with pneumonia and had just gone through his fifth bone marrow test (spinal tap) that year. Dad’s cancer doctor told us that the test came back unfavorable and he gave my Dad two months to live if he recovered from the pneumonia. At that time, Dad was so bad off from the pneumonia; the doctor at one point gave my Dad two weeks to live. Dad recovered from the pneumonia and we proceeded on for what we thought we had, two months. The doctor stopped all of his treatments saying there’s nothing else we can do. We accepted it and planned accordingly based on what the doctor said. Dad however, again, kept going and still stayed positive and hoped things would get better. Our daily/weekly routine had changed drastically since we were not going for treatments; we were only seeing the doctor once a month for a blood check. The two months passed and Dad actually started feeling better. We were all surprised and the doctor said he had no explanation for his improvement. He said, keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll take it.
My Dad really enjoyed being outside. He loved hunting, fishing, golfing, gardening, anything to do with outdoors. Because he had been sick so much in 2012 he was not able to be outside much, however, this past summer was different for him. He continued to feel pretty good and was able to be outside a lot. He could not do much, but had the strength to spend a lot of time sitting on our deck and with me in the garage. He was a car guy too and a mechanic back in the day, and as soon as I would go out to work on any of the cars, he was out there with me telling me what I was doing wrong. He developed an interest in the Camaro and each time I had something done to the car, he couldn’t wait to see how it turned out. Many times this past spring and summer, I would pull into the driveway after a car show and he would be sitting in the garage with the door up waiting on me wanting to know how I did in the event. When I had the LT headers installed with the Borla ATAK exhaust system, he just grinned when he heard the car exhaust roar. He truly enjoyed and appreciated what I was doing on the car. On July 7th of this year, Dad felt strong enough to go with me to the Mahomet Car Show where my brother lives. He was able to see what a show was like with all the old cars from his time and took it all in watching people stop by my car talking about it and asking questions. That was a special day I’ll never forget. I didn’t take home a trophy that day, but having Dad there was better than any trophy.
Right after I got back from Camaro Fest in August, I had noticed my Dad was not feeling well. This had happened before and it only lasted a couple of days, but this time was different. For some reason, he was not springing back. Dad was having severe pain periodically in his side. We visited the doctor and they ordered a scan to have a look see. It turned out to be a mass in his kidney and the doctor was pretty sure it was cancerous. They could not treat him without doing a biopsy. I was nervous about them doing it but the doctor said it was no big deal, minor in and out procedure so my Dad wanted it done. His thought was that if there’s something they can do to treat it; he should do it, again still having hope. The biopsy was scheduled while I was in Dallas for work so my brother was to come over and take him to have it done. My Dad had had a rough weekend before and I tried to get him to cancel it, but he did not want to do that. So the morning of 9-11-13, my brother took him to the hospital for the biopsy. Long story short, my Dad had complications from the biopsy developing internal bleeding and they could not get it stopped. He was in ICU and I was made aware of his condition. I went to the DFW airport to get home as fast as I could but Dad passed away that evening while I was still at the airport. I did not get to say goodbye, but I told Melissa on the phone to tell Dad that I loved him and that everything would be okay.
Because we knew the day was coming, we had his accounts and such already in order. My Dad was not a rich man, but was leaving my brother and me a small amount of inheritance. In preparing, my Dad had told me to enjoy what was there. One thing I remember about my Mom (passed in 1999) and Dad, they always thought of their kids before themselves and wanted us to be happy more than anything. If you’re parent, you know what I mean. Because of this, I was thinking about what to do that my Dad would appreciate. I thought; since my Dad enjoyed my car almost as much as I did, what could I do that would really set it apart and make a huge difference in its presentation. Since I had previously wanted to install a Cam at some point which Dad knew about, I thought that would be cool to do. Then it hit me. Why not go all out and Supercharge the car as well! Really make it a “Beauty and a Beast”. I talked it over with Melissa and she said, absolutely, Dad would have loved that! I’m fortunate in that Melissa loved my Dad as much as I did.
Because of their reputation and love for Camaro’s, I contacted Stefano at NicKey Chicago and explained what I wanted to do and why I was doing it. I had a goal in mind to break the 600rwhp mark and the car had to sound amazing too. Stefano and I talked several times to where we had the to-do list pretty well nailed down when I dropped the car off for its transformation. How fitting, I dropped Inferno off at NicKey’s shop on 10-16-13 which would have been my Dad’s 86th birthday. I was fortunate when I dropped the car off that Stefano had three 5th Gen Camaros with NicKey Stage 1, 2, and 3 Cam’s. I listened to all three and as soon as I heard the Stage 2 ZL1 car startup, I knew it was the one for me. Four weeks later, my brother and I picked up the newly transformed Inferno. It was everything I hoped it would be. Now, every time I fire up Inferno I will think of my Dad and picture that grin on his face. Priceless!
“That’s what I’m doing with my car...”
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