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I recently joined the Tesla Family, but I’ve been following the story since the beginning of the Roadster. I always wanted to buy a Tesla, but I just never saw myself as the owner of a car that expensive. I drove the same car for 29 years, an Acura Integra. It now has 223,000 miles on it. It’s a fine car, but after 29 years, I didn’t feel bad about upgrading.

Before I had a chance to upgrade my car, Musk’s announcement about the Model 3 came out. Finally, a car I could see myself in! The change in the way I thought about Tesla happened on the morning of March 31st-- I was standing in line with 300 other people, waiting to place a $1000 deposit for a Model 3, at the Buena Park Service Center and Showroom. About halfway through the wait, a semi from Fremont pulled up and parked on the median strip in front of the showroom. It had six new Model S on it. I stared at that truck, and said to myself “I could buy one of those right now!” Not because I wanted a luxury sports sedan, but because I wanted to be part of Elon Musk’s mission. And I wanted to do it now.

I’d bought our first Tesla a few weeks ago, a silver Model S 90D with light gray seats. I liked the red with black seats more, but we have some really hot weather here, so I went with what I thought were “practical” choices. Then just for fun, I configured the one in red too. Turns out it was the same design my wife wanted. My wife Sandy has been by my side for 20 years, it was time to do something very special for her. I wanted to give her a very special present. I’m not big on gifts, like she is, but this time I knew I had a good gift in mind. After a few days of staring at a Model S on the Customization page, I decided to go ahead and buy it, and give it to my wife! This was something I knew we would treasure for a long time. The Model S was a wonderful present and our experience will be a memory of a lifetime!