It was about ten and a half years ago and I was trying to buy a Jeep. I found the perfect one and excitedly applied for the financing, only to come to the realization that I could not afford a Jeep. I wasn't making much money (some things never change hey?) and according to the financing department, a payment of $350 per month was just not manageable on a salary of about $800 per month. I didn't agree...I mean I had a roommate and my rent was only $300 per month which left $150 every month for alcohol and cigarettes and other necessities. Priorities people, and things like eating and electricity just weren't important to me at the time. Of course I could afford a Jeep!! Needless to say, the financing dept. at the dealership were not swayed by my argument and I was left to find something "a little more affordable"

Completely dejected I went off to continue my search and wound up finding a vehicle that I would eventually fall in love with. It was a yellow Geo Tracker with a soft top and really cool seats that had been custom designed at a boat shop out of the same material used to make boat seats. Waterproof but evidently not cigarette burn proof, dog hair proof or a hundred gallons of mud proof, the seats were definitely a prime selling feature. It was also late spring and all I could think of as the salesguy showed me how to remove the soft top, was how cool I would look driving around all summer with my top off (haha). I was 20 then and looking cool was still important, as opposed to now when merely looking human seems to have taken precedence over the cool factor. Anyway, I was approved for the financing for my Tracker the next day and I remember literally grinning ear to ear with excitement as I drove off the lot, despite the fact that I was driving the poor woman's Jeep (a detail that a certain someone just couldn't resist having to repeatedly remind EVERYONE around her as though that detail somehow made some important impact on her own pathetic life)

That car became a part of me and has been there through ten years of roommates, a failed relationship or two, several million moves, and a couple of minor accidents, only one of which actually involved me. There was also that one not so minor accident where my husband (boyfriend at the time) managed to let the car fall off of a SMALL CLIFF, completely destroying another vehicle that was parked at the bottom of said small cliff - in the other car's driveway I might add -  yet not leaving a single dent or scratch on the Tracker which had often been described as a tin can on wheels (a COOL tin can of course but not so sturdy) The Tracker has been with me through 275,000 kilometres, many of which have taken me places that will remain in my memory forever. It came with us on our honeymoon, despite the fact that we also had the truck but because I didn't want to leave it behind. One time I went camping with a good friend and my brother and sister in law. My husband had to meet us out there because he was working so we had two vehicles out at the lake. The first two days were beautiful and sunny but on the last day we awoke to pouring rain. Because the first two days were beautiful and sunny, I had neglected to bring the top to my vehicle out to the lake with us...it just took up valuable space in the back seat and I needed room for those important things like suntan lotion and alcohol...oh, and the dog. So, on that last day my husband gallantly offered to drive my topless (haha) Tracker back into town but I refused, preferring to stick it out with my poor little car. I remember driving home, heat BLASTING and wrapped in a sleeping bag to keep warm. You would think I would be miserable, however I turned my pathetic little stereo up as loud as it would go, sang along to my favorite mix CD at the top of my lungs and I swear, I laughed the entire hour and a half home. The people driving by probably thought I was insane, and I probably was, but it was one of my favorite memories of my car.

So, today I write this because my Tracker, the vehicle that had not given me a single bit of trouble since the day I got it,  has suddenly decided that after ten and a half years, several awesome trips, tons of dog hair and cigarette burns and mud and sand and laughter and tears later, that it has had enough. About a month ago we had to replace the fuel pump and before that it was something else and now the computer has gone and it's going to basically cost more than the car is worth to fix. So we are going to be getting a new vehicle this weekend...something I have been looking forward to for a while. A couple months ago if you told me that I would be able to buy a new vehicle tomorrow I would have said, "Yes, THANK GOD!!!!!" and I thought I would gladly say good riddance to my little Tracker that barely has enough room for my, my husband and our dogs, never mind groceries, other passengers or the child we one day plan to have. Yet when I told my husband how much the mechanic said it would cost to fix and my husband and I decided we would be buying a new car instead of fixing it, I surprised myself by feeling an odd mix of excitement over the idea of a  new car and an intense sadness that I would have to let the old one go.