Our Car

In preparation for the onslaught of 15 Norwegians visiting us this summer, I began to do a little cleaning, purging and gardening.  It’s good to have an excuse to get things done that might otherwise not be tended to.

I hate dusting so I just do it once every few years, whether it needs it or not.  Our house is like a museum – full of stuff that brings back memories and as Kory says, “everything has a story.”  It’s hard to part with sentiments, but very easy now that I have an “over 50 brain” and can’t always remember the attachment.  Out it goes if the memory or meaning doesn’t pop into my head in short order.  It felt good to purge a little.

Strangely though, I don’t just feel attached to things in my house, I also feel deeply attached to my car.  It makes no sense, as there’s no real sentiment around it, I just love the car.  We bought it used, at an auction when it was four years old and had 110,000 miles on it. 

For years Kory had been anticipating his retirement from the carpenter’s union and the lump sump distribution he’d get at that time.  He’d long ago earmarked that money for buying a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  But things didn’t work out that way because two weeks after he retired, our son was born, so the two-door hatchback Toyota we were driving soon became impractical when dealing with a car seat.  A four-door car was a must and our only cash was his retirement check for $13,000.

We are firm believers you only buy a car you can pay for with cash, so Kory headed off to JG Murphy’s in Bothell one rainy Saturday morning and came home with the first four-door car up for sale that day.  Neither of us had ever even heard of a Lexus before then and we had no clue the bargain we’d gotten. Once we drove it, we felt it was just too nice of a car for the likes of us, but for the price we paid, we decided it was a keeper. And we’ve kept it now for more than 15 years. It currently has over 323,000 miles on it and it’s been a sweet ride.

So it was a sad day last week when I took it into the shop because it was making a clunking noise and the mechanic suggested it was time to “retire” the vehicle, as it wasn’t going to be a cheap fix.  I grieved.  I couldn’t let it go. I lost sleep thinking about losing a car I love so much and how could any other car take it’s place? 

The mechanic said it made no sense to pour money into a twenty-year old vehicle, but he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.  We are people who get something we like and we keep it – forever.  It’s just this side of hoarding.  My husband still has a car he bought in 1965. 

I felt safe marrying Kory, partly because of his old car, as it said to me he doesn’t get rid of things easily, and that might bode well for me.  I was right about that, and lucky for him and our Lexus, I’m the same way.