When we were living in California, I decided that Ben should buy me a BMW when I finished my master’s degree. It was one of those things that you say when you are young and living in So Cal. When Ben heard this though, he was very excited. In the following weeks he would bombard me with all sorts of number sequences such as 535, 335, 328 and 540. He wanted to know which BMW I was interested in. I never could answer that question. Those little numbers didn’t mean anything to me. All I knew at the time was just BMW. One day, however, that all changed. I was taking my daily walk with my students when I spied this beautiful blue BMW. I knew that this was the one car that I wanted. I quickly looked at the number sequence and memorized it so I could share my discovery with Ben. Later that night, I excitedly repeated the numbers to Ben. He exploded with laughter. You see, I had stated BMW 740 iL. I had no idea that this car was one of the most expensive luxury models that BMW sold. I personally didn’t think it was that funny! Anyway, life went on for many years and it became a family joke. I don’t know exactly when he decided that he was actually going to buy me one. I also really do not know how he kept it a secret but he did. One day while driving with Ben, he pulled into a gas station and pulled around back. Sitting there was a beautiful BMW. He simply said “that’s yours.” I didn’t really believe him but sure enough he had bought me my BMW. He had bought me my 740i off of EBay and had it shipped down to us. He had arranged everything. It was perfect in every way but most of all because it was a gift from him. In the years that followed, however, I would occasionally tease him that he still owed me an L.
