Cecilia has fallen in love.....

... with this truck in Shepherdstown, shown here with a campaign sign on it where it's parked across the street from the now-famous Toll House.

Now here's what's astonishing about this -- not that the truck isn't as cute as a button: Cecilia Brooks Falter, now 15 years old, has never (in my memory) expressed a desire to have any single material possession. Never.

When her birthday or Christmas approached, and we all variously asked her what she "wanted," her answer was always frustratingly the same: "Nothing, really." It drives us crazy, I guess because we love her so much that we have a burning desire to shower her with things, stuff, tokens of our love and affection. Even as a pre-teen and teen, her auntie Beth had to use all of her mighty powers of persuasion to get her to the mall or anywhere else to shop. When Cecilia and Kate visited here in April, they wanted to go to thrift shops and consignment shops, so it's not that our Cecilia doesn't want anything, just that she is pretty darn non-materialistic, especially for a teen-ager.

She's working week-ends scooping ice cream to earn money toward her trip to Ireland. She babysits, saves her money. She's a fine example for all of us.

So now you can better understand my surprise when she said, after seeing this adorable truck parked across from Loie's soon-to-be house, "I want that green truck." At last, I thought, this girl is normal!

Not only is she normal, but she has exquisite taste, doesn't she? Who wouldn't love to drive this truck? It sports a "For Sale" sign, but it also sports an "antique automobile" license plate, meaning it's not going to be cheap. But I plan to find out how much the dream costs. Yes, indeed, I do. Because my dream (and my right as a grandmother) is to drive that truck to New Hampshire and leave it with the keys in the ignition, ready for the soon-to-come learner's permit and driver's license process. I know that dreams usually die hard, but sometimes, like with Loie's toll house (seen below from the point of view of someone in the driver's seat of the truck), dreams do come true. Especially here in magical Shepherdstown.