Ode to the family car
Our last car, the 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport was never named other that the lable "Mom's car". I attached to the car by default. It was the pratical necessity that allowed us to camp,, haul, travel....I was grateful but not bonded. Until I left the 2002 Grand Caravan in the dealership parking lot and began removing memories from the car.
We bought that car when we became a family of 6. We had car seats for 3, and everyone was officially-legally ours. I remember signing the papers on the car, praying we hadn't made a mistake, and wondering how we would pay for that loan.
I also remember Humbolt being upset at the change from our Buick. Change is often hard on her. But Chinstrap, Rockhopper, and Adelie were delighted for the additional space and the magic spacecraft door.
Our first family trip in the car was to San Diego, CA via Salt Lake City, UT. We visited Temple Square, met Jody, Pete, and Jake, visited with Teri, Bob, Bryce, and Juliet, Mom Baker and Danny, Dad Braas, and Debbie.
We had countless local travels with Nana and Papa, taking kids to school (along with school zone tickets), and many activities. The Caravan took us biking, skiiing, camping, to work and back, and on more trips to Jack in the Box and Dairy Queen than we'd like to admit.
Our last family trip was to Ocean Shores when we visited with Sam, Colin, and Max, crossed the Puget Sound via ferry boat, toured the Point Defiance Zoo, and flew kites on the beach at Ocean Shores.
The Caravan was our family car....the car that visited family, carried family, and witnessed the maturing of our family.
Perhaps, I didn't feel attached to the caravan, but I am certainly attached to the memories. So when we drove away, after removing the legal papers, music cd's, bag of clothing intended for Goodwill, bits of broken pencils,scraps of papers, sunglasses, blankets, and odds and ends, I felt a little sad.
The car was beyond repair. It 99,987 mile it had a significant repair, still under warranty. At 120,000 it needed more work. It suddenly lost all power one winter over the freeway overpass, and was restored at the car dealership. I recall typical maintenance, oil changes, and services, tires replaced, brakes done. Once I drove it to the Chrysler dealership because the seat belt had stuck in the track of the sliding door and the door would neither fully open or fully close. The electric windows occasionally maul-functioned, or the sliding door would break- costly repairs for those. This past winter, I felt the power steering give on cold days in the parking lot at work.
This past week I was turned the corner headed to the Freeway on ramp and heard "glunk" from under the hood. And from that point on it snowballed. At 158,000 miles we thought it would last another 3 years. The car was done. The bracket holding the alternator broke dropping the alternator onto the radiator, damaging the engine, while the power steering collapsed....yet the car brought me safely home. That was it's miracle. The car always brought us safely home.
So thank you to our Dodge Caravan. You were grand! And you will be missed.
We bought that car when we became a family of 6. We had car seats for 3, and everyone was officially-legally ours. I remember signing the papers on the car, praying we hadn't made a mistake, and wondering how we would pay for that loan.
I also remember Humbolt being upset at the change from our Buick. Change is often hard on her. But Chinstrap, Rockhopper, and Adelie were delighted for the additional space and the magic spacecraft door.
Our first family trip in the car was to San Diego, CA via Salt Lake City, UT. We visited Temple Square, met Jody, Pete, and Jake, visited with Teri, Bob, Bryce, and Juliet, Mom Baker and Danny, Dad Braas, and Debbie.
We had countless local travels with Nana and Papa, taking kids to school (along with school zone tickets), and many activities. The Caravan took us biking, skiiing, camping, to work and back, and on more trips to Jack in the Box and Dairy Queen than we'd like to admit.
Our last family trip was to Ocean Shores when we visited with Sam, Colin, and Max, crossed the Puget Sound via ferry boat, toured the Point Defiance Zoo, and flew kites on the beach at Ocean Shores.
The Caravan was our family car....the car that visited family, carried family, and witnessed the maturing of our family.
Perhaps, I didn't feel attached to the caravan, but I am certainly attached to the memories. So when we drove away, after removing the legal papers, music cd's, bag of clothing intended for Goodwill, bits of broken pencils,scraps of papers, sunglasses, blankets, and odds and ends, I felt a little sad.
The car was beyond repair. It 99,987 mile it had a significant repair, still under warranty. At 120,000 it needed more work. It suddenly lost all power one winter over the freeway overpass, and was restored at the car dealership. I recall typical maintenance, oil changes, and services, tires replaced, brakes done. Once I drove it to the Chrysler dealership because the seat belt had stuck in the track of the sliding door and the door would neither fully open or fully close. The electric windows occasionally maul-functioned, or the sliding door would break- costly repairs for those. This past winter, I felt the power steering give on cold days in the parking lot at work.
This past week I was turned the corner headed to the Freeway on ramp and heard "glunk" from under the hood. And from that point on it snowballed. At 158,000 miles we thought it would last another 3 years. The car was done. The bracket holding the alternator broke dropping the alternator onto the radiator, damaging the engine, while the power steering collapsed....yet the car brought me safely home. That was it's miracle. The car always brought us safely home.
So thank you to our Dodge Caravan. You were grand! And you will be missed.
Comments