When I was 16, I asked my dad to drive his 2000 Corvette to school one day. My dad agreed to let me take it and so I did with his final words to me of “be careful.” As we went to lunch I raced through some corners and as I came out of the corners I lost control and crashed and totaled his car. I was terrified! What had I done?!? I almost killed myself and my friend! We could have died. After being in the hospital all day, I went home, terrified as to what my dad was going to do to me. In my room crying, my dad came in to see me when he got home as he was unable to make it to the hospital. He asked me, “Are you okay?” I said, “No, I just totaled your car!” To which he then proceeded to ask me to get up and he embraced me and said to me while hugging me tightly, “It's just a car.” It was in that moment he taught me that it’s not about the things, it’s about the people and I was more important to him than his car. Fast forward to my 20s and meeting my wife. I always told Megan that “I’ll own a Corvette someday.” When the new C8 was introduced in 2020, I fell in love with it. I was able to place my order at the end of October 2022 and requested a Museum Delivery. During the order process I’d been trying to come up with an idea for personalized license plates. I settled on “Just a C8” as a nod to my father’s words to me when I was 16. I was so excited to honor my dad and his healing and forgiving words. I also decided to have the interior plaque personalized with his phrase to me so as never to forget it. I was able to surprise my dad on January 11, 2023 to show him the plaque and it was really a great moment. Getting the Corvette was truly a dream fulfilling experience, but I want to always remember that it really is, just a car.