I was interested as soon as I saw this little red car and a rather petite woman and two passengers pull up to the Post Office, and then I was really intrigued as I saw her trying to exit the vehicle as two giant dogs tried to get out the same door as she was using! And, next I saw the license plate—FRAU! I was “hooked” and waited for the driver to exit the post office and climb back into the car with two excited “puppies,” excited to see her and wanting to get out and run. I hurried over, a least as fast as legs with 1,000,000 miles on them could stride, and told her I would like to write about her car and her if she would consent. Before we were finished talking, I felt as if “I had made a FRIEND.”
YVONNE Whalen (also known as Jeannie), only girl of six children, was born to Larry (retired from Ft. Sill, OK) and Helen Shaffer in Lawton, OK, and graduated from Memorial High in Tulsa. She followed in her father’s footsteps and spent three years Army active duty at Ft. Hood in Texas. She became a corporation packaging consultant and then started her own consulting business in 2010—now in the packaging industry for more than 24 years!
“Moved back to Texas in ’99 after residing in Germany for four years and relocated to Forney in 2005,” says this traveler, who shares three grown children and five “grandboys” (ironically) with her husband. Their youngest, a daughter, was born in Heidelberg, Germany. Their son graduated from Mesquite High and joined the Army at age 17; their “middle” daughter was born at Ft. Hood! Whalen’s husband retired from the military in 2010. (I hope I recorded all this correctly!)
Working on a Wildlife and Conservation Degree at Texas A&M-Commerce (my old East Texas State University “stomping ground”) occupies much of Yvonne’s time now, but when the couple “retires,” they plan to travel—enjoy camping, fishing, boating, hiking—and see “what the next exit has to offer!”
“The 1964 VW WOLFSBURG BEETLE was purchased for me in 2011 as a gift from my very influential and protective Mother, Helen, who thought a vehicle in high school was a ‘nono’ for an ‘only’ daughter.” “She had helped my brothers, too, but just took a little longer (30 years) to do the same gift of transportation for me.”
This grateful daughter says that “there is so much sentimental value in the car, but I can not place any monetary value on it, though I have often wondered what price it would bring, which is not ‘in the cards’ right now! Not too long ago, Mom enjoyed taking rides with me in the Beetle to ‘grab ice cream’ at Braum’s in Terrell but also just ‘trotting around’ town.” (Her mother ‘turned’ 80 years old this year and now resides in an Assisted Living Facility.) “I just can’t sell the car, because when Mom is outside at the Assisted Living facility enjoying the weather and I pull up with the engine making a VW ‘roaring,’ the joy that shines from her face is priceless and has no price tag!”
“So, FRAU will stay on the license tag, because Mom picked that name when she remembered being accepted as an equal in Germany with no judgement, only acceptance, during a ‘very strenuous cultural racial time.’” FRAU is a tribute to her Mom, who even learned to speak some German with an Hispanic accent.
When purchased, the car was bright red but with some faded spots on the roof, so after three years of ownership, there were a re-painting and a re-dipping of chrome. The following year brought new tires and newly re-upholstered seats. The 6th year brought a heater, which the car did not have! This past year saw the transmission and clutch replaced, along with new carpet and door panels.
She admits to one luxury in the car: a CD player, maybe because her Mom loved to listen to The Everly Brothers and Willie Nelson as they drove around town! (Her Mom has good taste. Willie Nelson “wore out” my “8-track player!” Themer).
Basically, the auto looks about like it did when purchased, and “SHE” is driven mainly in the cooler months, since summers in Texas can become a “little hot” for “no air-conditioner cars!”
“SHE” has stayed in Yvonne’s garage ever since its purchase and “shows” 18,423 miles, but an admission is that “I know that can’t be the actual mileage, even though the ‘mileage meter’ still turns while the car is in motion! And, my main mode of transportation is a Chevy Tahoe.”
Mrs. Whalen states, “I do not actually know what ‘miles per gallon’ the car gets, but SHE has a 5-gallon gas tank under the hood, which attracts quite a bit of attention at fill-ups, as so many people stop to ponder the situation, since a gas tank under the hood is very uncommon these days.”
So, let’s close with a couple more “tidbits” from this interesting story. Yvonne would always drive her two trained German Shepherds to that training in her VW Beetle, and now it seems that she cannot even start the engine of the car without both of them almost breaking down the door to get in for a ride. They know the exact sound of this engine!
And…. “we subscribe to the Forney Messenger and began at first years ago so that my Mother would have something to read and enjoy.”
We moved to Forney from Mesquite in 2006 and liked then, and still do, the politeness of the residents, driving locals waving from their vehicles, favorable economic growth but still with polite mannerisms of a small ‘home-town,’ our Grandsons and other Forney youngsters holding the doors for ‘seniors’ out in town, downtown holiday parades and festivals, and many VETERANS who served our nation. We, too, are Veterans and plan to remain here for a good while as our ‘HOME BASE.’”
If you see someone with passengers who have faces that look like dogs, wave, for it is probably the FRAU license-plated VW with Yvonne at the wheel!
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