BD had been encouraging me to buy a Martin, as my infrequent attempts to play the Epiphone resulted in out-of-tune noise. It is not a bad guitar, but certainly not a Martin. She has known I have wanted one since we have been together, and has encouraged me to strive to make that dream come true when I had the chance. I had decided that this year, if I was careful, I would try to buy a Martin, and had been looking at a new HD-28 online and at the guitar shop in town, Southern Guitars. A new HD-28VS would be much out of my price range, but talking to Southern Guitars yesterday the guy tried to explain to me that it would be a better investment to purchase one he knew about instead of a new HD-28. To make a long story short, he knew a guy that deals in high-end guitars (BD's first questions was, "Is it stolen?"), and had a pristine Vintage Series available. I went to the shop yesterday over my lunch hour, played it, and fell in love with it...not a mark on it, not even those fine, hair-like scratches on the pick guard. The finish is unblemished with no scratches, dents, dings or any kind of marks. The case is immaculate, and I noticed that the little envelope that held the keys to the case was still sealed. In fact, I learned that the warranty had never been activated, so the guitar has never been registered with Martin! I might be so lucky to even benefit from Martin's Lifetime warranty!!

Anyway, I got it! I am a truly happy camper. BD has stood behind me on 2 of the 3 things I have lusted after for the past 40 years, and helped me obtain my Pilot's License (#1, and she got the first ride...which took some prodding to tell you the truth...), now my Martin (#2), and at the end of January or first of February #3 will be in the garage (I'm buying a Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe...dream #3!!). If it wasn't for her, and her encouragement, I don't know if I would have ever had the focus needed to tackle these things one by one... I am indebted to her for that, and will always love her for showing me the way to realize these dreams!!