Sorry Rich but this is about the last 2 cards needed.
It was 1979 and I was finally getting close to completing my first ever set of baseball cards (1979 Topps) and was only missing Clint Hurdle and Mike Krukow. I checked with a friend of mine who usually had more cards than me, and wouldn't you know it, he only needed the same 2 cards. (He was only 1 card short of the 1978 set...Thurman Munson). I took a trip to a local card shop (there weren't many available back then) and they already had 3 wantlists on file needing the same cards.
A couple weeks later I went to visit my grandparents for the weekend and I took my cards with me. I sat at the kitchen table with my grandmother and told her all about my card collection and what I knew about some of the players (Bench and Brett for the most part). After dinner, the 3 of us got into the car and went to a nearby K-Mart where grandma surprised me by buying the last of the packs they had available (about 10 of them). We got back to the house where I tore them open, but did not find the cards I was hoping for.
The next day grandma went to the grocery store and came home with about 10 more packs of cards. This time I found both of the cards I needed! I can't tell you how excited I was, I really thought back then that completing a set was a major accomplishment, for anyone. I knew people who had complete sets of KISS cards or Star Wars, but no one who had completed a set as large as a baseball set.
I lost my grandmother in 1981 and miss her for many reasons. I have many wonderful memories, one of which is her helping me complete my 1979 Topps baseball. She had no interest in any sports, but sat there for hours as I talked about my cards and various baseball players. I still have the 2 cards, don't know exactly where they are right now, but I do know I still have them in probably VG condition both in toploaders. They are my only 2 cards in my collection that I will never get rid of.
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