Ruby Toosday

This is Ruby.  She has been my steady and reliable ride for 7 1/2 years.  Today we said good-bye.  Even though it was the right thing to do, I am (possibly irrationally) very sad.  How on earth does one get so emotionally attached to a car??? I don't know but I did... I was... I am.  I think she was the first car that I ever bought just because I really wanted her.  We would see her sitting on the lot every day as we drove to and from work and school.  I must have audibly sighed every time we passed because one day my daughter said, "mom - why don't you just stop and take her for a test drive?"  So I pulled onto the lot, took her for a spin, and left with a new (to me) car.  The best impulse buy I've ever made.

I remember our first trip up into the mountains.  This car was built for mountain driving.  She's a rally car so she loves sharp curves and hills and valleys.  I took her over the Sierras from Modesto, CA to Gardnerville, NV with the stereo blaring out my favorite Eagles and Fleetwood Mac tunes.  Perfect freedom.  She fit right in in Beverly Hills that time I took my son to check out his new college. She was a trooper trekking across the country with a daughter, a dog, and most of our worldly possessions loaded in her cargo space.    And then there was a more recent mountain drive - different coast - when I not only got lost but was running out of gas and (as I discovered almost too late) was completely out of oil!  That was an adventure I never want to repeat!  Still, she didn't let me down then either.

So why have I given her up?  Well... it was time.  The fact is, my old body has been making driving a stick shift very difficult lately.  And then my daughter, who has a baby and a job and a host of other just-getting-started-in-life worries was complaining about needing a car with better fuel economy so that she didn't spend all of her tips each week on gas.  I do believe in divine right timing and synchronicity.  Within a couple of days of our conversation, a new listing for the exact car my daughter had mentioned as her ideal popped up on a Google search. It met all of the criteria, was close by, and was in even in her price range. So after a few emails to the dealer, I made the decision to trade Ruby for the new (to her) car and I would take the gas hog she's been driving.

I do not regret the decision.  It was the right thing to do.  I'm just sad.

I loved Ruby very  much, but she was also starting to show her age. It was only a matter of time before she wouldn't be able to go like she has been.  And we all know that as we get older, the replacement parts get really expensive!  I just pray that whoever owns her next will love her as much as I have.

Ruby handing over the reins to her replacement.

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday.  

Who can hang a name on you? 

When you change with every new day.  

Still I'm gonna miss you...