Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
Clarissa Hinton and her husband had attended the Chicago Auto Show together for over 20 years until last year, when it was canceled by the pandemic.
But she was determined to be there Thursday, when an altered auto show opened, postponed from its usual February date and Hinton made sure her husband was there, too, in a way.
Robert Jay Stone was 66 when he died on St. Patrick’s Day, but Hinton brought his ashes to McCormick Place, wheeling him around in a wire basket.
“His spirit continues on. I feel that this urn has his spirit, and I wanted him to experience this with me again. We used to come together and pick out the cars we wanted, since cars were always our thing” said Hinton, 70, recalling how the couple had met at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.