Monday, July 27, 2009

Every Mile A Memory

For a couple of years now I have done nothing but complain about the ol' Oldsmobile Alero that I have called mine for 5 years now. So it was no surprise when, almost immediately after getting that first paycheck as a college graduate, I splurged and bought myself a new car :-) which I love entirely, might I add. I deserve it. Period.

But enough about that. Anywho, I sold that car about 2 hours ago. I thought I would be so glad to get rid of it. But once I pulled up in the driveway and it was gone, it hit me how many memories I had in that thing.

Yes, it pissed me off more than anything, ha, with its windows that do not roll up and down but rather you have to roll them up and wedge something in it to keep it from falling down. Anyone who has ridden with me in the last year when I went to a drive-through to order food, or if you were lucky to have been present at one of the many nursing group automobile bitch sessions, is sure to have heard me tell how embarrassed I was every time I went to get food because I had to open my door to pay and get my food, haha. They also heard me bitch about its rear-view mirror that fell off, the dent in the driver's side of the door that caused big fat rain drops to hit me when it poured down, the air conditioner that only blew air if you put it on level 4, meaning it was either melt to death, or get blown away. There was NO middle ground. The dashboard that looked like it melted. Cuz it did. For a while, the gear shift had no button to push in as you changed gears, so you had to stick a pen down in it to switch gears. And the turning signal did not work so I got the finger from other drivers at least 200 times. Fixed the last two things, though. All of these things were just the beginning.

But despite all that stuff, that car holds more memories than anything else I have ever owned. One week to the day before my precious Ethan was born, John bought me this car. It was my second best gift from him, second to Ethan of course. I am going to name some memories I will always think of when I think of the A

I drove to the hospital in labor in that car. I brought my newborn son home in the backseat of that car. I have now watched him go from a rear-facing infant seat, to a forward facing carseat, and now to just a booster seat. I will never forget the hundreds of times I found that "missing" bottle of milk under the front seats, where the milk was in solid form (yuck). It took me to UT games, vacations, concerts, and just out for late nights. I have fought in it, screamed and cried. The first place I ever went as Lauren West was as I drove off to my honeymoon in that car, with it all decorated up. I also was in that car when we decided to end it.

I left my high school graduation in it. And I went to my first day of college in it. I also put my LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY sticker on the back window. And I also went back and forth, an hour each way, to every single day of college for 4 years (which may explain the 150,000 miles I put on it in less than 5 years). Then I arrived at, and left my college graduation in it. I have gotten all my tickets in it and had all my wrecks in it. On bad days, it was my peaceful place, where I was alone with my thoughts and my music to cry, scream, or talk to myself haha. To clear my head and gather myself. On wonderful days, I drove it like hell to get wherever I was going that made me so excited.

In between those two graduations, I fell in love while sitting in that front seat once. I spent many lovestruck nights cruising around with him and talking about how crazy we were about each other. I also drove away from that same love, in that car.

Heard the words "I love you" from my current love for the first time while driving down the interstate. In that car.

I have made friends and lost friends in it. Late nights riding around laughing so hard I was crying. Yeah, that happened a lot. Late nights riding around upset, asking advice from whoever was in the front seat, trying to figure out what I was going to do. Yeah, that happened a lot too. A few cigarette burns, when we thought we were too cool and got a little too hand-gesture happy while holding one of them. Countless trips in the middle of the night to go hang out with someone because they were bored. Gotten flowers, notes, cards, and all kinds of goodies left for me in that front seat.

It may seem a little silly. Writing all this. Thinking about all this. But when I look back I GREW UP in that vehicle. All my firsts and lasts of my life since I was 16 have been while I had it. Farewell, ol' red! You will be missed!

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