COMMERCE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A Commerce Township family is finding comfort in a powerful piece of the past -- a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am that once belonged to a beloved husband and father lost to cancer.
Darcy Jeneary still remembers what the blue-and-white classic means to her family.
“It just reminds me of when he was healthy, before cancer,” she said.
A promise made, a father lost
Mike Jeneary’s prized Trans Am was sold roughly a decade ago to make room as the family grew. But his son, Aaron, never stopped thinking about it. He had hoped to surprise his father with the car -- or one like it -- as a milestone gift.
“I wanted to get him one of these for his 60th birthday, but unfortunately, with the way his treatments went, he passed at 55,” Aaron said.
Mike Jeneary died after a nine-year battle with cancer, but Aaron refused to let go of the promise he had made to his father.
“I never thought I’d find the original -- that never crossed my mind,” Aaron said.
A Facebook post changes everything
A social media post set an extraordinary chain of events in motion. Aaron shared a photo of the Trans Am online, which eventually connected him with the car’s owner in Massachusetts. The car wasn’t even for sale -- but after hearing the Jeneary family’s story, the owner decided it belonged with them.
“It just kind of restores your faith in humanity. People are good,” Darcy said.
Aaron and his two grandfathers made the trip to Massachusetts to pick it up, turning the occasion into a Father’s Day weekend road trip.
Back where it belongs
Seeing the car was one thing. Driving it was another -- especially with the upgrades under the hood.
“Absolutely flawless. This transmission has never shifted better, at least from when I remembered it,” Aaron said during the ride home.
For the family, it feels as though the car never left.
“I can just picture him. He’s just smiling ear to ear right now up there,” Aaron said.
His mother sees something even bigger at work.
“I feel like God and Mike had a plan to get the car back to us. It was meant to be,” Darcy said.
Aaron says the Trans Am isn’t going anywhere. He hopes to keep it in the family for generations to come.