Faithful Friend

This fine looking automobile has been mine since 2000. That's right, we have been together for almost 10 years! We bought her new from the dealership, first and last time we will ever do that. This isn't her actual picture, just a representation because I'm too lazy to go out and take her picture. She's actually much more beautiful to me and she wears a racy black bra on her hood. Got to keep everything contained.

We have been through so much together and even though she now has over 105,000 miles that she has adventured with me, I love her as much as the first day she came home. She has been through most of Sweet Baby M's grade school, middle school and high school years. She taught Sweet Baby to drive and spent some time sitting in the lot at the high school. She thought she was so COOL then! She has held carseats and kindergarteners. She has made more trips to the pumpkin patch then she cares to count and has carpooled to museums, zoos, state fairs, lakes, mountains, and other interesting destinations.

This dear van and I have been all over Wichita. She has hauled home more bags of groceries than I can calculate. She's moved plants, furniture and mulch. She has been to many other states too. She's driven to Minnesota more times than I can count, to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Colorado. She loves the open road and is careful to keep us all safe when we are cruising along.

When I think of all the things we've experienced together it makes me very melancholy. She has practically driven herself when I've cried so hard I couldn't see the road after dropping my kids off for their first days of school, sped to the emergency room, hauled 4-wheelers and boats, driven all the way up to the Continental Divide and back down with nary a groan.

This wonderful machine always seems to hold just what we need. Need a pen, we've got it. Need a straw, yep we got it. Need a kleenex, a safety pin, a needle and thread, a tampon, a drink, a snack, a blanket or a hoodie, a coloring book...got it. It truly is a wonder van!

My van is candy apple red with the most luscious deep gray interior. It's been barfed in, had every sort of fluid spilled in it including an entire Route 44 Diet Limeade with extra lime, and has contained more crumbs than you would ever believe. Jim just takes a power washer and hoses it out and it comes back as good as new. She's just like Nanny McPhee, that great movie where Nanny McPhee gets more beautiful the longer she's around.

That's just the way I feel about my sweet van. We've shared so many experiences together that I can't imagine life without her. Hopefully she will go on for a while longer with me and see the Big D through high school too. With her big blinky headlights and her huge smiling grill, I imagine she will be the proudest van in the lot when we visit Sweet Baby at college. And when my dear van and I drive away, I know my faithful friend will whisk me home just as she has for the last 10 years, pull into the garage and wait patiently...ready for the next adventure.