Funny how attached we get to “things.”
Last week, we traded in our old minivan for a smaller SUV. It was 12 years to the day since we’d bought it. Halloween night of 2001. I remember wondering if we were crazy or stupid to buy a new car so soon after 9-11. Except for two transmissions and motor mounts, it was a good car, and helped us make a lot of memories.
Soccer games.
Football games.
Family ski trips to New Mexico.
A soggy ride home from the military recruitment depot after a tear-filled good-bye to our son when he joined the Marines.
Rides to and from the airport to pick him up or send him back.
Taking our daughter to college. And making a quick trip up to see her when she became sick.
Driving our youngest and his friends to screamo concerts.
Transporting our kids and their friends.
Moving kids home from college, and then to an apartment.
The spring break trip when we all got stomach flu on our way home.
Driving home from San Antonio with rain pounding the roof for two hours.
And the rare times when everyone’s home and we all go out for dinner, or to Christmas eve service.
Lately, the old van has been primarily a dog hauler, taking our Golden Retriever back and forth to the park for walks. We didn’t worry too much about the dog hair and dirt since it was so old. And we’d hoped to keep it until our dog crossed that rainbow bridge. But sometimes in a relationship, you just know it’s time to call it quits. And so twelve years to the day, on Halloween 2013, we said good-bye to our Odyssey. It has truly been an amazing journey.
Thanks for all the memories.
