It Was More Than A Hunk Of Metal

How do you reward fifteen years of loyal service?

What can you give to express your thanks and gratitude for being there in the hot, the cold, the good and the bad?

Don’t worry about trying to provide an answer because you can’t thank a thing for doing what it was built to do, but you can be grateful that most of the time it did what it was supposed to do and that it worked for as long as it did.

It didn’t become my full time car until November of 2005 so technically I am only responsible for the last 10 years of driving.

And if you look at the mileage above it might occur to you that 140k and change really isn’t all that much for ten years of driving let alone 15.

It was a Honda and if I had wanted to put some more cash into it I could have made that baby run for a good while longer but it was time for us to sever our relationship and go our separate ways.

I was ready for modern technology, better safety equipment and frankly far more comfort than it could provide.

When we bought it I was barely 31 and it was designated as the family car, in spite of the fact that we didn’t have any kids yet.

Hell, we had just decided to pull the goalie from the cage and I had no idea how long it would take to find out if the boys could swim or if the parental warnings to be smart and safe had been for naught.

It feels like a million years and a thousand lifetimes since those early days but when I think about the some of the biggest moments of my life it will always be associated with them.

That car will always be the one that took my children home from the hospital and the one I drove across five states to start another new adventure.

Whenever I think about those moments I’ll always remember it. It will always be the one I parked in the lot outside my apartment in Fort Worth.

It was more than just a hunk of metal.

Dad, It Could Be Mine

My teenage son wasn’t particularly excited about selling it.

Partly because it has been around his entire life and that provides a sort of familiarity and comfort.

But I suspect so does knowing that you are about a year away from driving and the idea that you might be able to secure your own vehicle is of great interest.

“Dad, it could be mine. I bet one of my grandparents would let us park it at their house for a while. Could save you some real money, you wouldn’t have to buy me a car.”

I smiled and told him I didn’t have any plans on buying him a car.

“I didn’t get my own car until I was a senior in high school. The laws were different back then, I was allowed to drive other kids in my car and that meant I got to drive my sisters around.”

Actually it was mainly my middle sister and I won’t tell you about what a pain in the butt that was nor will I confess to throwing her school books out of the window while doing fifty.

Oops, sorry mom, she had it coming and I wasn’t allowed to put my hands on her, so the books had to go.

Damn, the people that say confession is good for the soul are right, it feels good to admit that I did that.

Note to my children: DO NOT DO AS I DID. Really, it would be wrong for you to do so.

Anyhow, my son and I went back and forth for a few moments about the car and why I didn’t want to hold on to it and he mostly agreed.

Mostly.

Since he is not a parent he doesn’t understand how seriously I take his safety and how that plays into the decision not to hold onto it.

It is not to say that I think it wasn’t safe but since newer cars offer more safety features it makes sense to try and get him into something like that.

Am I Really That Old?

Did I mention how hard it is to believe that I have a kid in high school or that I know if I blink he will be of legal driving age?

I am glad that I have some time before I have to worry about it.

I don’t have the spare cash to get him a car now, let alone pay for the increase in insurance and gas but I suppose I need to start preparing for it.

One of these days when he is a bit older I’ll have to tell him about how many things that old blue beast made possible and how, but not yet.

For now I am going to enjoy the new car and keep doing what I need to do so that fifteen years from now I am not driving the same car unless it is by choice.

Hell, maybe if I am really lucky fifteen years from now I’ll be able to retire or picture a day when it is possible to retire.

And that right there is the biggest sign of the difference between we got that Honda and now.

Back then retirement wasn’t real, it was just something that would happen a million years later and now it is a glimmer in the distance, not quite real but conceivable.

All because of a hunk of metal.

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