Cars I've Known...or Killed

My driving career has been colorful, to say the least. I think there is an angel or two in Heaven who will probably pat me on the back one day and say, “You kept us on our toes, Jeannie.”

My first real car to call my own was one of the early Hondas – the kind with the round headlights, beige, and a sweet interior that felt sporty and fun. My Grandma was getting a new car, and this one was coming to me. The other vehicle I drove fairly often was my Mom’s red Dodge Sundance – remember those? I loved that car. Sadly, both of these cars would be totaled by yours truly in my junior year of high school. I wouldn’t say I was a terrible driver, but I did get easily distracted. I learned the hard way how to pay attention. (This would come in handy when I became the mother of 3.)

The next car I zoomed around in was another Dodge Sundance - a two-tone with silver on top and a burgundy/raspberry kind of color below. This was the car I took to Indiana Wesleyan University. This car survived. Well, almost. There was this one incident where someone came into the house where I was visiting a friend and said, “Is that your car in the ditch?” Apparently, I had left the car in drive, so it had rolled down a gentle slope, across a street, and headlong into a ditch. It was still in great condition, just looked a little neglected there down the hill.

Just a side note here, I can’t believe my parents didn’t just send me to college with a 10-speed and say, “Have fun!”

Staying in the Dodge family, the next vehicle would be a red Shadow. This was the car Aaron and I would drive the many miles between Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We kept it until just a couple years ago; and now it’s still in the family with Aaron’s aunt Patty as the new owner.

When we knew Gregory was coming along, we invested in a “family car” – our dark purple Dodge Intrepid. That was the car we brought Greggie home in. I remember driving around with him and watching the baby mirror more than I watched the road!

And now I’m one of those mothers who live in their mini-vans. We struggled with that decision….a mini-van before we turned 30? Is that really what it’s come to? But we realized how convenient it would be with two little guys and now a third. It’s a two-tone blue and silver Mercury Villager and it gets us around, even if it is lacking in zip and hip.
Be kind to those mothers in mini-vans…their road rage is boiling before they ever get on the road! Just kidding…sort of….

Driving now takes a great deal more concentration with a 4 year-old in the back, yelling about how he dropped his toy, a 2 year-old who thinks he has to stop and go potty in the field, and a newborn fed-up with being buckled in the car seat. Let’s hope I can keep it between the ditches.