I wasn’t ready for it, I can tell you that up front.
Yes, it was a discussion we’d had many times, and yes, I understood all the reasons it was a good idea. And still the morning my husband said We should go today and I shook my head in agreement my heart wasn’t in it. We’re just looking he said.
And so I got my coat and handed him the keys and said You drive (as if this would make it easier.)
We made our way across town. Then there it was, the first one on our list, Dealer A. Before you could say Technology Package with Bluetooth I was test-driving a brand new SUV, this one smaller, tighter, shinier than the old gal we’d left parked at the front door of the dealership.
It was seductive, with all those features: the back-up camera with warning beepers; the way the side mirrors lit up when a car was approaching; the iPhone possibilities. And then there was the new car smell. (What is it about a new car smell????) Still I wasn’t sold.
I just wasn’t ready.
One more stop he said. While we’re on this side of town.
And just like that the heavenlies delivered to us the one thing we weren’t looking for: a pre-owned black SUV, scant 2000 miles on the odometer, full New Car warranty and the joyful backstory that the previous owner was a Service Woman who, rather than deploy again, retired from the military, moved back to the United States with her husband and two children, and gave up the car.
How could I not say yes?
A week (and several financial negotiations) later we returned to the dealership to take possession of the new car. In our garage before we left I had a great talk with my sweet silver girl, the one I was leaving behind, the one who’d taken good care of me for eight years and more than 140,000 miles. I told her how grateful I was, how she’d get the love and attention of a mechanic who would get her running good as new, the joy she would bring to a new family–a family that would be thrilled to own a car with so much heart, so much soul.
I didn’t think it would happen this fast I said. But the universe seems to think it’s the right thing for both of us.
She seemed to agree, if a bit reluctantly. And so we made our last ride across town together, parked, and then we said goodbye.
my heart broke just a little as we said goodbye
She has been a good friend, my silver buddy. How I wish her well.
The Daily Grace in your inbox? I say yes!
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You gave up silver for a backstory and history of gold.
Oh how I have been there myself. I cherished my Paseo and resisted my Tucson. Now I can’t imagine life without my Tucson named Pedro. Why Pedro? We went to South of the Border together for the first time.
Perfect! You two have quite the history!
I bought a black Jeep Wrangler in 1992 and traded it in 1996 just before I came to Greenville. A month or two after I traded it, I saw it in a grocery store parking lot. I approached it slowly, gently touched her (her name was Betsy, from the previous owner) and found it hard to break away from her after I’d seen her.
You know, we’re both a little weird.
You know, the silver car never told me her name. The new black one told me the day I met her: Bernice. How funny is that? Happy to be weird with you, my friend!