Death of a Loved One

He’s been a MAJOR part of my life for 8 years. He was there for me when I needed him most … EVERY single day!!  My kids grew to depend on him as much as they did me. He has been there for me so many years, so faithful, he was actually a PART of me.

People remembered me just because of him. I know that it’s strange that I should grow so attached to him. I guess I’m just the sentimental type!

I remember that warm, muggy, August summer’s day when I first laid eyes on him, just as if it were yesterday; it was love at first site.

I knew it was going to work for me and him because I wanted him so bad. He was long and lean. He was BIG and he was just what I needed at this point in my life.

HE was my Toyota Van.  Compared to what I was previously driving, a Plymouth Champ, this opened up a whole ‘nuther world for me and my children. He, hereinafter called “it” had dual a/c and lots of get up and go.

There was just no comparison.  I didn’t really want to put any more $$$ into the Champ since it wasn’t meeting our needs.  The Champ only had room for me and my children and NONE of their friends. For my family, that was a major problem. Whenever we went anywhere, there was always at least one tag-along!

For me, it was VERY reliable and dependable! My van got beat into the ground too. We took it camping, moved several times with it, made several vacation trips in it and I could always count on it!

The problems started when I took a 550 mile trip to a family reunion several years ago.

While driving from Phoenix, AZ to Tulare, CA with my four children, I heard an awful creaking sound similar to the metal creak of an old ship about ready to r-r-r-r-rip apart as it sunk!  Since I was driving on LAND I knew something was terribly amiss.  I continued to drive cautiously but the sound got worse and worse.

After the trip, I checked with my local Toyota dealer and discovered that it was the seals on my ball joints. The mechanic assured me that it was not a safety hazard, but the only way to rid myself of the noise was to get new ones installed, since the originals were factory sealed and the new ones weren’t and could be lubricated regularly. The cost, a mere $450 dollars plus labor! Since there was no safety issue, I decided to live with the noise.

Six years later, the noise was so unbearable, the kids were embarrassed to ride anywhere with me! We’d go over speed bumps at the grocery store and everyone would turn in our direction. I just pretended that ALL cars made this noise, held my proud head high and ignored the inquisitive stares.

This was the only problem my van had other than the lack of air conditioning. Our a/c had bit the dust 2 years ago. In Phoenix, this makes for miserable driving due to the high summer temperatures. Two-Forty Air (windows down, going 40mph) doesn’t even compare!! We never got relief from the heat, no matter how fast I drove.

Just last month, though, I had to invest $1100 in repairs to it. It ran great for the first month, but the next thing I knew, one morning, my van starts pulling back as if resisting forward motion. I didn’t understand it’s apparent fear. I continued to press onward.

It’d been faithful all these years and I just knew it’d get me to work one more time. We barely made it a half mile when it quit.

At first I thought it was just its typical sense of humor. Always playing li’l jokes on me to keep me on the edge, but never to keep me on my feet.  Try as I did, it wouldn’t budge.

I was too far from home to try to push it back. My son got out of the van and pushed me through of the intersection. I waited patiently for it to rest a little.  I tried to start it up and it hesitated as if it couldn’t get enough fuel.  I decided to try to drive to the nearest dealership for repair but it wouldn’t go faster than about .002 mph. It was then that I noticed that it was on it’s last leg.

I was bound and determined to get it out of the neighborhood it died in. It deserved a better death than that. I loved it afterall. I had always taken care of it. Uhmmmmmm, er, okay, well, I always fed it gas and oil regularly anyway, okay??

We managed to get to the Nissan dealership a short time later with the help of a friend.  Let me tell you, when a dealership sees customers dropped off sans vehicle like we had arrived, they literally SEE you coming!  I was ripe for the purchase, even though I tried to pretend as if I wasn’t desperate. By this time I had realized that another repair was out of the question. My Visa card was maxed out and I had no ready cash to pay for the repair, regardless of the cost.

I decided to consider buying. The first thing they asked me was if I had anything to trade or how much down I was willing to pay. My van was the only thing I had in the way of $$$ down, so I just happened to mention it to the salesman.

He next asked me where it was and I hated to mention the part about how it had died.  I was so emotional and he knew it!  I think he was a little sentimental also because he actually offered to drive me over to my van to take a look-see. But then, he had the NERVE to ask me to try to drive it over to his dealership to save on the towing bill costs by the dealership!!  Hrrruuummmph!!

I managed to get it started, but it wouldn’t budge.  I got it across the street but it wouldn’t accelerate.  I knew it had made its final trip and I should just let it go. I couldn’t put it through the pain of driving that one-mile trip to the dealership. I told the salesman it just couldn’t make it. Since I was doing the driving, he had to take me at my word.

Fast forward to day’s end, I’ve now purchased my first new car all by myself!  This was also the first time in my life that I was NOT happy about buying a brand new vehicle.

I had alot to consider with this purchase.

• Like, how on earth I was going to budget for a car payment;
• I considered how much I could cut out of the food budget for these six year payments.  I have three teens at home.  How on earth could I trim the food budget?
• Could we hike up the thermostat in Phoenix and live with a hot house during the summer just to save on the electricity for the car payment?
• Would it be possible to find a sugar daddy real fassssssst to pay for my new car?? Ha-ha—moi???!!!

I finally decided that I was going to have to adjust somehow. I still don’t know how, but according to the dealership, my wages and my credit status told them I could afford the payments.

Who better than a car dealership would know whether or not I could afford the payments???

My new Nissan 200SX is fun to drive. It reminds me of my li’l Plymouth Champ, ‘cepten sportier and way fassssssster!  We’re right back to square one again … we’ve got a vehicle that is big enough to carry me and the kids but no tag-alongs!

Hmmmmm, with TEENS, this could be a blessing in disguise!

His memory will live on and on though. I haven’t yet received the Visa bill on the van repair from before I purchased the new car.  I have a funny feeling that I’ll be remembering him for quite a long time, one month at a time, as each of my Visa bills arrives!

Tell me how you lost your loved one. We can commiserate together about our losses, repair bills and stinking new car payments!