Thursday, January 31, 2008

Who knew it would be so hard?

Little did I know that when I took the picture of the snow curley melting off my windshield, it would be the last photo of Barbie.

Last Saturday I cleaned her up, ran her through the car wash and vacuum and then took her to a family friend to sell. He’s a mechanic and since he owns the place, he can keep her there to sell for me.

I was a little worried about selling her on my own, being that I’m a single woman and how do I handle showing the car? It’s not like there’s a guy who can help me out with all that. So having our family mechanic sell the car is the perfect solution. Now I just have to wait for someone to come along and buy it.

What I didn’t expect was that I got a little teary when we drove away from the garage. Seriously – it’s a THING. But when I told my Mom about it she said she was crying when she & Dad sold the car she drove for 17 years. So I guess we don’t realize how much our cars mean to us and how much they’re a part of our lives.

Barbie and I went through a lot together in the 10 years I owned her. Tires, breaks, door hinges, lights, compressors, mystery problems with the check engine light, electric windows that wouldn’t go up or down, a hood release that wouldn’t. Not to mention the long and horrible commute to the Ad Agency I worked at (35 mile commute that took an hour and a half each way). After all that, she's in good working order.

When I purchased Barbie I had to wait for her to be delivered. They weren’t making too many New Beetles with an automatic transmission. Even so, it hardly took any time at all for me to name her. She was always “Barbie the Blue Bug”. Now that I’ll have a new to me car, I have no idea what to name her or if I even should. Other than the fact that she is white and 7 years old (with only 45,000 miles on it!) I have no real impression of “who” this car is.

I'll be picking her up on Saturday, so I'm sure I'll have an idea by the time I get her home.

5 comments:

Beverly said...

I feel your pain. I drove an '87 Nova all through high school and college. Hated every minute of it. That car was a curse on wheels. But when I finally traded it in, my dad and I drove it to the dealer for the last time and it was actually pretty sad. I've always felt like my car is an extension of myself, so giving one up is always hard.

Roberta Lipp said...

We love our cars. Wasn't that the puncline of Singles?

Some cars I name, some I do not. I love my little Subaru, and I call it my little Subaru.

Bezzie said...

Aw, sweet Barbie.

I was glad when I got rid of our Tempo. It threw too many tempo-tantrums. But I know I'll be like you are when I have to get rid of my grandma mobile someday...

turtlegirl76 said...

Oh, I've had cars I've bonded with like that. It never really hits you until you break up with them though.

Kathy Barnard said...

Big hugs to you! I hear ya!
When I put Old Red Paint out to pasture (after 14 years!), it felt like I was leaving a whole lot of memories at the lot... I had some great times and some horrible times in that car.
Now New Green Paint is my faithful sidekick.
(both Subarus- I love Subarus!)
Is your new pal a Bug also??