Family

Transitions

If you’ve known me for a while, you know I’ve driven a ’98 red 4WD Dodge Durango for a long time – I bought her new (12 years ago yesterday) back when I worked at the Texas Medical Center in Houston on the weekend while going to school for my MBA. She’s taken me skiing in Colorado a few times, to the Pensacola beaches several times, through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, and all over Texas. In recent years she’s also left me on the side of the road without any warning, and we’ve rebuilt or replaced the transmission, water pump, battery, alternator, and/or radiator way too many times to count.

red dodge durango

So, this weekend we found a different girl to carry me around Southeast Texas. Which means I had to go through Bessie and remove 12 years of accumulated riches in her hidden and not-so-hidden compartments. Among the loot was 5 CD’s – the Original Motion Picture “Under Cover Brother” soundtrack (good music never goes out of style 😉 ), Michael Buble, Kathy Trocolli, City on a Hill, and Mercy Me; a Victoria’s Secret gift bag (naturally), 52 pens (work in healthcare a while and marketers throw pens at you), 28 cents (3 nickels and 8 pennies), 2 Chuck E. Cheese tickets (score!), a change of clothes for the beach, my old baseball glove, an old french fry (which didn’t taste nearly as good as it looked), various mechanical fluids to keep a 12 year old SUV running, 17 keys, 2 gym bags, 2 maps (we used to use those before GPS), and 2 bottles of cologne.

Some other stuff as well, but it all spoke of the many years I drove ol’ Bessie and the fun places we’ve been and the struggles we had keeping her running in the last few years. It was time for someone else who didn’t positively have to be at a wedding or airport on time to give her a good home to while away her remaining time. 🙁

Here (I don’t have a name for her yet) is my new Mercedes – if you look in the lower left hand corner of the photo and squint a bit you’ll be able to see her:

red smart passion cabriolet

🙂
A big difference from Bessie for sure – for one, if you see me around town, honk and wave, but if you see me struggling to get up an overpass, please be a sweetie and give me a pull. I’m going to have a hook mounted to the front just for such occasions 🙂

Lauree and Trent’s engagement photos up next!

2 Comments

  • Krystal

    I’m so jealous of your new car! I love my SUV, but the tiny cars are so much fun to scoot around town. Parking is also SO MUCH EASIER!!

  • Allen

    Hey Krystal! 🙂

    They’re fun, we drove a Mini Cooper S Convertible for a couple years but even that is a luxury sedan compared to this Smart 🙂

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