I feel like this post would be more appropriate coming from a 50 + year old man who has been forced to part with his beloved sports car (for whatever reason), a car that he owned for X number of years, drove X00,000 miles, and was only getting ride of it because his wife was sick of it sitting in the garage taking up valuable space. Instead, this ode is coming from a 32 year old woman who only owned her car for 3 years and only drove it only about 18,000 miles and in the end, was willing, though sad, to part with her sports car.
When I graduated from college, my parents gave me brand new 2000 Hyundai Elentra for graduation. It was my first new car and I loved it. I drove it for 8 years while I lived in Massachusetts, put over 190,000 miles on it, and bought countless sets of tires for that car. My parents wanted to get me a car that would last me through graduate school, and it did, though at the end I was putting more and more money into it to keep it running. In the spring of 2008, I was ready to defend my dissertation and planning to move across country in that car. The car itself was ok, but it had some quirks that made me nervous about driving it across county. First, I had been driving that car for 4 years without a functioning drivers side window (which means that for the 2 years I commuted to Boston, I had to open my door to pay the 8 tolls that I encountered, yeah, toll people loved me). In addition, during the previous summer, my car would mysteriously not start on really hot days, which means that I was a tad nervous about what was going to happen in the 110 degree desert. All this being said, the bottom line was that I did not have any money to put towards a new car, so driving my old car and praying a lot was really my only plan. That plan held up well until I got rear ended 14 days before I was set to leave town. This accident meant that in addition to finishing a Ph.D. and packing up my life to move across country, I had to buy a new car! I had never bought a new car and I was a car salesman’s worst nightmare (ok, actually a car salesman’s worst nightmares is my husband, but that is another story). I really did not want any of the cars they were showing me and I was very distracted when shopping. When they would ask what kind of car I really wanted, I would say “I want a mustang convertible, but I cannot afford one, so I am looking for something more reasonable”. They would then show me nonconvertible mustangs and I would quickly tell them that I had no interest in a mustang if it was not a convertible. I was a pain and I had no idea what I was going to buy.
With only 10 or so days left to go before I needed to leave town, my mom and my cousin Leslie (more like an Uncle) got involved. They started looking for cars and Leslie found a mustang convertible in NY that was perfect. Everything about this car was perfect: the price, the color, the car payments, everything. He wheeled and dealed, annoyed the salespeople until he got the price he wanted for me, he test drove it, picked it over and decided this was the car for me. The day I turned in my dissertation to my committee members, I drove down to NY to buy that car. The whole thing was relatively painless. I had amassed some money from insurance payments and graduation gifts and was able to drive away in a car that was so far beyond what I had been driving, it blew my mind. When people would ask if I liked that the top went down I would say “The top, I am just happy the windows go down!”. The car had leather interior, a 6 CD changer, was super powerful, . . . and did I mention it was a convertible??! The only reason I was able to get that car was because of the leg work Leslie did. He wanted me to have that car; he wanted me to drive across country with the top down and cruise into the Wild West in a vehicle that was fun and made the driver carefree.
Anyone who has attained a graduate degree knows how much sacrifice it takes. You sacrifice time and money, not to mention other intangible things that are hard to put into words, all for a degree that you put your heart and soul into. I bought that car on the day that I had effectively finished my Ph.D., a real and figurative turning point in my life. A day that I felt turned me from a perennial student into a real live person.
I drove that car across the country with my friend Kirsten. I packed only what would fit in the trunk, the back seat, and loaded 2 bikes on the trunk. We drove with the top down everyday (except for the last leg through New Mexico and AZ) and I showed up in AZ red like a lobster, with seat belt tan lines, but I did not care. I had just driven across country with one of my best friends -with all of my worldly possessions- in a mustang convertible. I was breezy!
Once I got to AZ, the use of my car went down a bit, but its sentimental value continued to grow. Leslie passed away soon after I moved to AZ and that car was the biggest piece of him I had. I thought AZ would be the ideal place for a convertible but honestly, it is too hot most of the time to have the top down! After moving here, I started riding my bike to work and my car would sit for long periods of time in the driveway, unused, but I would smile every time I saw it out my window. I would get immense pleasure from picking up people at the airport in the convertible and the dogs loved the convertible! It was like having one giant window!
Yesterday we sold the mustang. As you know, our pack is growing and it is time to get a vehicle that can fit more than me and my purse. Though I was ready to move onto a bigger vehicle, parting with my car was still bittersweet. After yesterday, it is so easy to see how good that car has been to me. It got me across country safely, I have not had to take the car in for a single repair in 3 years, and yesterday the dealership made me an outstanding/unreal trade in offer on my 'stang. In my mind, this is all still Leslie working his magic and I am forever grateful.
Bye bye mustang. I will miss driving you and knowing you are waiting for me outside for our next adventure!
