Sunday, October 10, 2010
Goodbye Girl.
Dear Camry,
Thank you. You were wonderful and I am so grateful for all of our time together. You have been my longest relationship, and I am so sorry to have to break up with you. A miraculous generous act brought you to me 7.5 years ago for a cost I could afford thanks to more generous acts. The stars aligned and you rolled into my life as the first car I've ever owned. You were so very kind to me, chugging along the roads back and forth to San Diego and everywhere else.
Looking back, you never broke down on me, though we did have a few incidents. I only had you a few days before I swerved after spilling soda and jumped the curb at the mall and took out some plants and left you a nice dent. We never really had another accident, though there were some dings and scrapes that arose. Early on, you had some brake issues, and there was the 6 month period your driver's side window was taped up with duct tape. There was the two times that the motor mounts broke, the first time leaving the mechanics to question whether I was actually off-roading in you instead of commuting. There was the time I hit the curb and blew your tire, but we found that nice guy riding by on his bike that changed it for us. There was also the time or two we had battery issues, and had to change it once in the parking lot with help from the cashier at the auto parts store. All that aside, you never left me stranded in the middle of the state on a road trip. Though there was the time that you just decided that the key was too worn down to start anymore, and I had to find a dealer open on Memorial Day in San Diego to make me a new one.
As our days together wound down, I began to realize all of the quirky things with you that I wouldn't miss. I can officially retire the stick that came with you to hold up the hood. Even though I replaced the parts once, they stopped working a second time and I had to pull back out the stick. I will now have a trunk that doesn't leak water into it from the light cavities when I open it. I will also have more space in my trunk because I will not need to carry a big crate of fluids and a giant tool box. I will finally be able to unlock the car from a place other than the driver's side, and only be able to lock it using the inside lock button. I will have an antenna that isn't broken off, and can't break off because it's part of the car. The windshield wipers will work, and probably won't have to be rigged with a wire hanger at any point soon. The windshield will not have 19 years of wear on it and make driving at night have me question my vision. I will not have to get a running start at hills, going 80 at the start to go 50 at the top, cussing at people who mess with my momentum. I will not have to carefully avoid the sharp pieces of the shattered interior and I will not have to wonder about the smells. My car will not be my excuse for not going somewhere anymore. Finally, I will not have to worry anymore if today is your last day.
I loved you, and we spent a lot of time together. You took me up and down Highways all over this state, and facilitated my love affair with the California coast. You made some hard days better, giving me an escape from lonely days. You were such a good car, and even got me noticed by Toyota.
Thank you for all the fun and excitement and memories. It was really pretty neat to hit 333,333 miles with you on the way to let you go, and I loved the faces of the guys when they saw your mileage but you started right up! I will miss things about you, and it was very hard to let you go yesterday.
I'll never forget you, but it was time to move on.
I can only hope my Elantra is going to be as good to me as you were.
Thank you again.
Lots of love,
Me
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