[barb1191]

Some years ago my friend Elaine and I worked together at a large electronics firm in Nashua, NH. Elaine usually went to lunch with her hubby, John, and on this very special day.....as they were returning to work after lunch, they were on a main highway and Elaine's hub said to her...."stop and pick up this guy (walking along the side of the highway with a young teen girl). John told Elaine that he thought that this guy owned the RV that was disabled alongside the highway. Elaine pulled over and stopped the car and John rolled down his window and said to the guy...."Is that your rig back there?" He answered yeah. John said hop in and we'll give you a ride to the garage just up the street. The guy and teen got in the back seat.....John turned to talk with them and Elaine started to drive off. John said to the guy...."You ARE Paul Newman, right?" Paul said "yeah that's right; we're headed to the Louden car races. John said to Paul, "If they can't help you at this garage (unlikely that they could service an RV), John said to Paul, "Here's my business card; I work for an RV dealer who will take care of you." Elaine and John returned to work.

Elaine came back from lunch BEAMING. She said, "You'll NEVER believe this, but we just picked up Paul Newman and gave him a ride to a garage. And told of their experience. Elaine told us that when she looked into the rear-view mirror and saw it really was Paul Newman, she got so nervous, she couldn't shift the gears!!! LOL

That early evening after John & Elaine came home from work the phone rang and Elaine answered. Much to her surprise she hears on the other end of the line, "Hi Elaine, this is Paul Newman." Needless to say, Elaine was speechless!! She sputtered, "Oh hi Paul; hope you got your RV up and going. Paul replied that no he couldn't find anyplace to fix it so he called John's workplace and sure enough they picked he and his two girls and Joanne Woodward and gave them a new RV to use while at the races. Paul thanked and thanked her for her help and they hung up.

Minutes later the phone rang again and sure enough it was Paul again. (Elaine thought how many people get TWO calls from Paul Newman in one night?) Paul again thanked them for the kindness and invited them to attend the races as his and Joanne's guest for the day. WOWOWOWOW Elaine was ecstatic to say the least.

Paul and Elaine spent the day with Paul & Joanne and asked permission if she could take pictures; which they so graciously agreed as long as they're kept private. Elaine took two rolls of pictures and they had a wonderful time. She said that Paul and Joanne were just like next-door neighbors. Joanne made tuna salad sandwiches and they drank beer.

Upon John and Elaine's leaving, Paul gave them his address in Connecticut and invited them to visit any time.

Such a great man, husband, father, actor, entrepenuer, and humanitarian. He will be missed by many.

barb