I CRIED LIKE A BABY

So, we've been having a lot of milestones and exciting changes around here lately. It's been crazy emotional.  Gwen (previously, The Senior) is out of high school now and graduates officially on Monday. Mr. Insane is officially registered for Kindergarten in the Fall, and Gwen is getting her first car on Monday.

The other day, after the car purchase decision was made, I realized something. We had my old van sitting in the driveway and undrivable for the last year waiting for someone (yeah, ended up being mom) to call and have it towed away to the junkyard. Where in the heck were we going to put Gwen's car? So yesterday was the day...The big old tow truck backed up to her (Sally) in my driveway, pulled her up on the flatbed, handed me some cash and drove away. And I cried like a baby.  I haven't been able to drive her in a year, but at least she was sitting there and she was still part of our lives.

We bought her when Gwen was almost a year old. We moved to Oregon soon after and of course, she was there with us. A few months later, we moved back to Nevada and of course, the van came with us. She literally saw us through four moves, one road trip vacation, one training session for The Hubs that required him to drive from southwestern WY to South Dakota every week, driving home to Nevada every Thanksgiving for the first few years we lived in Wyoming, and driving five kids anywhere and everywhere they went. This van was the scene of hugs and kisses, puke and poop, and fights and make ups. Toys and shoes were lost in this vehicle, never to be seen again.

Is it possible for one vehicle to see so much of a person's life.  It doesn't seem possible, but it is.  Many people trade in cars every few years, but we try to use em til they are dead! And that is exactly what we did with Sally. Just think about it, we got rid of her a few days before Gwen graduated High School, the car and Gwen were a year apart in age. That is a lot of life lived right there and Sally was there the whole time.

Now what?  Well, I don't think the mourning will last long although I will ALWAYS have piles of memories. Now a new vehicle will take her place in the driveway. Come Monday, Gwen's car will be jockeying for position with mine. I only have one word to describe this time in our lives. Bittersweet, but then again, much of life is bittersweet.

Until Next Time...Remember that the objects that represent or symbolize our lives may leave us, but the memories live on in our hearts forever.

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