Andrew Chornomitz with his Baba Vickie. (submitted Photo/Andrew Chornomitz)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Perfect Surprise

A gift 30 years in the making: P.A. man surprises grandma by visiting with previously-owned vehicle

Sep 5, 2023 | 3:49 PM

A Prince Albert man may have just given his grandmother the greatest gift she’s ever received.

Over the Labour Day Long Weekend, Andrew Chornomitz drove down to Esterhazy to surprise his Baba Vickie using her old truck she hadn’t seen in nearly 30 years.

She and Chornomitz’s Gedo (grandfather) Sam bought the vehicle back in 1979 and only used it for special occasions like visiting family. The couple used it for around 13 years until Sam passed away in 1992.

The truck in its early days. (Submitted Photo/Andrew Chornomitz)

After being dormant for a couple of years, Chornomitz’s dad brought it to Saskatoon where his family was living.

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“Before I was 16 I knew I wanted it to be my first vehicle, so I drove it through my years in high school,” he said.

Eventually, Chornomitz left the city to pursue a career in media and was forced to leave the truck behind as he didn’t have the means to take care of it.

Fast forward around 15 years and Chornomitz now lives in Prince Albert. He decided to have the vehicle brought up from Saskatoon and has spent the last couple of years getting it back into tip-top shape.

Once it was ready, Chornomitz figured it would be the perfect time to surprise his Baba.

“My grandmother isn’t getting any younger and I always wanted to take a trip down to its hometown, it was like one of those bucket list things, and I finally found the opportunity to do it.”

The trip ended up being around 450 km long, but the truck made it to Esterhazy with no problems.

“I think deep down, I had faith it was going to make it,” said Chornomitz.

When he arrived at her care home, he was expecting his grandmother to be quite emotional. However, he got the exact opposite.

“She was so surprised that she actually thought she died,” he laughed. “She was so shocked that she wasn’t even giving an expression and she actually thought something was happening to her.”

It wasn’t until later in the night that his Baba started getting emotional after driving around the community. In fact, it encouraged her to start going down memory lane.

“She was going through photos… telling stories,” Chornomitz added.

Past and present photos of the truck. (Submitted Photo/Andrew Chornomitz)

Meanwhile, Chornomitz has no plans to make the trip with the vehicle a yearly tradition.

“I hope not because you know the fuel prices,” he joked.

—

Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow