Maddy Wagner is a 14-year-old who has a thing for expensive automobiles and also happens to have autism. Her holiday wish this year was to take a ride in one of those cars she dreams about. So her father put a message on Craigslist.
What happened after that was reported by Jeff Strickler in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
A Minnesota man who owns garages that service deluxe cars spotted the message. He contacted some of those car owners and asked them if they’d be willing to help.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Maddy’s father said he was taking her and her brother shopping. Instead, they wound up at an office park in Chanhassen, Minn., that was mostly deserted.
Except for the luxury sports cars. Thirteen of them. An estimated three million dollars worth of them.
All waiting to make a teenage girl’s wish come true. Not just once, but 13 times.
For two hours, she was treated to rides in cars that most people only have seen in James Bond movies. A Lamborghini. A Ferrari. A British Caterham. A Bentley.
After each ride, Strickler wrote, she gave the driver a hug. She said the rides were “cool” or “really cool.” But Lamborghini is her favorite car line, so when a Ferrari owner playfully tried to “convert” her, she said, “I don’t want to be mean, but I still like Lamborghinis more.”
For Maddy Wagner, it was the brightest Black Friday ever. For the cars’ owners, the rewards were a young girl’s hugs and a father’s gratitude. As Rich Wagner told them, “None of you had to be here today. You could have been home with your families.”
“This is the right thing to do,” said one of the owners. “It’s a great way to end the season.”
And a great way to start one.
Contact D.L. Stewart at dlstew_2000@yahoo.com.
What you say
Last Sunday DL asked whether a Cleveland-area third-grader who weighed more than 200 pounds should have been taken from his mother and placed in a foster home. Here’s what some readers had to say:
Being removed from a loving, if over-indulgent family, would be more damaging than obesity. Family counseling would be a more appropriate action. — Linda F. Benton, Fairborn
This kid is a product of the American culture of fat phobia, processed foods, food lobbyists and really poor dietary recommendations on the part of our government. It’s a sad, sad state we’re in ... — Lori Kelch, Spring Valley
Short answer, NO WAY does obesity warrant removal of a child from a home. Cuyahoga County went WAY over the line. — Thomas Whitney, Kettering
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