Cars

It's an inanimate object. It sits in the driveway or the garage, not moving so much as a cylinder unless we insert the key or push the starter. So why is it that we get so attached to our cars? We think of our cars as having personalities. We talk to them, give them names. And no, it isn't just me, so don't even think it. They are our (hopefully) reliable transportation. We count on them to get us back and forth and keep us safe. They become like part of the family.

We just got a new family member, and said goodbye to an old one. Son number one needed a new car. He has outgrown his old one (by old, I mean one year old), and by outgrown, I mean physically OUTGROWN. The boy is very tall and has really large feet so it was tough for him to move his foot from the gas pedal to the brake, especially in an emergency situation. As a result, we got him an adorable crossover SUV. I liken it to a large bred puppy. You know the kind; bouncy and fun, big ol' paws it hasn't quite grown into. The downside was that we had to trade in our old family van, which I would compare to your loyal golden retriever, a little grey around the snout and a little slower in step, but you still love it.

I never wanted that van, but we were a family of seven crammed into a station wagon. The two oldest kids were riding in the rear-facing "jump seat" in the very back of the car and I lived in constant fear of being rear-ended and them having all that broken glass fly in their faces. When we started looking at new vehicles, I immediately fell in love with the shiny new SUVs like the Ford Expedition. They were everything I could wish for in a family bus, all the comfort and the doo-dads that make driving fun. However, they had a pretty hefty price tag which at that moment in time was not in the budget.

The big 15 passenger van was CHEAP by comparison. In terms of price per sq. ft., you couldn't ask for a better deal. And it was nice inside. The kids loved the four rows of bench seats. This meant that almost no one would have to double up except the youngest two kids who sat behind the parents on the first row. My husband tried everything he could to make it tolerable for me. It was green metallic, my favorite color and he added running boards and got nice new wheels so it would look less like a work van. We had the dealer put on some tan pinstripes (matching the interior) and replaced the heavy duty rear box bumper with a more normal one. For the kids, hubby added four TVs, two PlayStation 2's (that had just come on the market) and a VCR. It truly became an SUV (Souped Up Van).

The van served us well with only one serious flaw. Because of the weight and the new wheels, it had a tendency to rupture tires by splitting the stems. Steel truck stems fixed that problem. It took us from school and back daily, carried gobs of groceries from the warehouse club (though we had to shove them under the seats and find them later. We took numerous trips to Disney (back in our pre-Florida days) and finally it served as a moving van of sorts. (We were stopped by some small town police in Georgia on a Sunday night for being a "suspicious" vehicle.) Imagine that policeman's embarrassment when he discovered he had in effect pulled over the Partridge family(sans the musical talent). All I needed was the "Caution: Nervous Mother Driving" sign on the back.

After we moved to Florida, I became pregnant (with baby#6) for the first time since getting the van. This was when I discovered that hauling my already large self into that high vehicle was not going to be any easier one I got bigger. I also discovered that my new OBGYN office had a tiny little parking lot that meant I had to park about half a block away in order not to cause damage to other cars or get trapped in a space. My husband felt bad for me and our finances were better by then, so we decided to keep the van for trips and such, but get a more manageable vehicle for everyday driving. After taking the family to "try on" many types, we ended up getting an Escalade ESV. You might think it was for the nice leather upholstery or the awesome sound system and the navigation thingy. You'd be wrong. The number one reason was that it was physically the best fit for the family. The second reason was that at the end of the test drive with the salesman, he whipped that steering wheel with one hand and zipped into a tight little parking place with no problem. That did it for me.

At first, I made an effort to drive the van in trade off with the Escalade, but gradually, it just sat for longer periods. Then I took it for service and the dealer messed with the transmission and it started making a noise when it got up to around 60 mph. I became worried about it's reliability and just parked it. I would crank it up now and then, just to circulate the fluids. Finally, the battery conked out. When we had a number of visitors coming for my son's (baby # 7) Baptism last spring, we had it towed to the dealer and serviced. They overhauled it completely, but it was never quite the same. We had to have it towed home from Disney the first time we took it out. Some little something, a solenoid switch, was sticking.

I feel like a bad parent whenever any of my vehicles breaks down. Doubly so if it has to be towed. Anyway, I no longer had faith in my old friend. When it was time to get the new car, hubby and I both knew it was time to let it go. He knew it would be hard for me. They didn't offer much for a trade-in. He was willing to keep it if I wanted to. There were a lot of fond memories attached to it, but I knew I could keep those. The new vehicle has a few reminders from its predecessor. We transferred the state license plate and kept the front vanity license plate which has a large green frog head on it and came from a restaurant chain in Mexico.

In some cosmic way, I think this is the official start of our new beginning. Number one son will make his own memories with his new vehicle and we will gradually need less seats as more kids leave the proverbial nest. Number two son has already taken possession of the car number one outgrew, though he hasn't even got his permit yet. He loves it and I have a feeling that with luck, they too will be together for a long time.