By the way Todd, I wanted to say I liked the putty idea...very clever! But it's not the linkage. In fact, I don't think it's the "transmission" at all, but rather the gear shift lever and whatever is connected to it, besides the transmission. This is definitely a curious problem. When we get this figured out I will definitely add it to this site, since there's nothing else like it so far. If this odd occurrence ever happens again, hopefully the next guy will have it a little bit easier.
Thanks again,
Barbara