Carl purchased his 1964 Chevy II (Nova) as a project car over 15 years ago, partly in memory of the first real gift that his father ever gave him, a '64 Impala, when he was sixteen years old. That car was dearly loved, but was involved in an accident and totaled by his wife (yes, they are still married!).

As many are aware, Carl has faced serious and often life-threatening illnesses, over the last 25 years and 19 surgeries, with many extended hospital stays and lots of uncertainty. More recently, and due to several of the chronic conditions he has suffered with, including the complete loss of his large bowel, an almost complete removal of his short bowel, and needing to sustain his life through the use of Total Parietal Nutrition that goes directly through his heart, his kidneys are rapidly failing him. He has developed very large, impassable and inoperable kidney stones that are exacerbating his condition and often causing him extreme pain.

Through all of these physical trials and troubles, he has done all he can to stay positive and not let the pain control him. That's where his Nova comes in. He has found joy and distraction in being able to restore a car that was lifeless and broken, and make it a thing of beauty and enjoyment. When the pain and depression have threatened to overtake, he has poured his energies into this car, hoping to restore it, and maybe himself, to its former glory.

For those who know him, you know that he can be described as selfless and generous, often giving his time, talent, expertise, and any spare cash available to those in need, from friends to acquaintances, to strangers. There have been times when he was still able to work, that upon discovering the situations of customers whose homes he was called to work at, that he paid for their parts and repairs from his own paycheck, because he felt moved to help those people. He has always held to the belief that if you give to others in need, it will come back to you somehow.

As it stands today, Carl's Nova is in need of several labor intensive and costly items to complete the car and allow him to finally be able to take it down the strip and street. He has already purchased almost everything to make this happen, but his health at this point, won't allow him to be able to do the work himself. We need to hire these jobs out for him. Our goal is to get the car operable and road-worthy, and if we receive more than our stated goal, we may be able to finish the car to his dream condition. Unfortunately, we believe that if this dream is going to become a reality and he be able to actually drive this car, time is of the essence. None of us know how long we have, but Carl's situation is increasingly alarming and volatile.

Because the car had to be put on the back burner due to his failing health, some work had to be done to get it to start again. Attached is the video of that happening for him if you skip to the end of the video at the 7:15 mark. He was very excited, and it did a lot to encourage him that this dream of his may one day be realized.

There is so much more that we feel like we could say about him and why we feel that he is deserving of having this dream come true, but we don't want to overwhelm you, the reader. If you feel led to help us achieve this goal for our friend, Dad, and Grandpa, please help. Either way, please pray that we are able to realize this dream for him and that if God allows him more time, that He will do so. We have made him aware that we are trying to help him with this, but as of yet, have not given too much detail as to how.