Sadie's surprise

Sadie Taylor awoke on her 17th birthday with some excitement, as one might expect. However, when her father went into her room early that morning, wished her a happy birthday and gave her a card and a pair of jeans, Sadie couldn’t help feeling that it was a bit of an anticlimax. The jeans weren’t even gift-wrapped. She put them to one side and started getting ready, as she had planned to go shopping that day.

“I went downstairs a little later, all groomed and ready to go out,” Sadie told us. “When I went into the kitchen, my dad said that my brother, Joe, had got me a little present.

Joe gave me a small box, which I opened to find a Mini keyring. Jokingly, I said to my dad that all I needed now were the keys to go on it. At that point he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. By this time my heart was racing and I had butterflies in my stomach!”
Sadie’s father led her out to the garage and opened the door. Inside was a black Mini Cooper bearing the registration SAD 11E. The first thing Sadie did was scream; “It has my name on it!” She was ecstatic.

“Me with a black Mini Cooper was my dream come true,” says Sadie. “At only 5' 1'', a Mini fits me perfectly, and I became the envy of all my friends.

“Now, after about a year of owning my ‘baby’ and my number plate, I still get a rush each time I put my seatbelt on. “And I don’t know how, but everyone knows my name!”

Len Stout