Farewell to an Old Friend

This news is a little belated and very long-winded, but I have wanted to write a worthy tribute to acknowledge the departure of a dear friend from our lives. About a month ago, Derek and I sold our 1988 Honda Accord. You may wonder why this would be a momentous occasion for us, and I hope by the end of this posting, you will come to understand. And I promise most of my postings will NOT be anywhere near this long.



1988
Sandy's Grandmother Katherine purchases white 1988 Honda Accord LX-i in Palm Springs, California.

1988-1997
For 10 years, Grandma drives the Honda to the store, church, gas station, Jiffy Lube, and car wash.

November 1997
Grandma is now in her 90's, decides it's time to stop driving, and graciously deeds the Honda to Sandy and her sister, both of whom are in college and living together. Honda traveled 42,000 miles in its first decade.

January 1998
Derek shows up in Automotive Basics 101 with no car, hoping there will be a cute, single girl with a car and no shop partner. There is. She thinks he is cute, too.

March 1998
Derek and Sandy's eyes meet, as they lie on the shop floor beneath the Honda, Sandy straining to open the drain plug. They both realize for the first time that they just might be falling in love. The drain plug finally yields, as do Sandy and Derek's hearts.

Spring and summer 1998
Derek and Sandy take innumerable weekend trips to Southern Utah in the Honda, get to know each other, and like what they see.

1998
Derek and Sandy enter the bonds of holy matrimony with about $4.28 in their joint bank account and 3 cars in the driveway: a 1984 cute-but-unreliable Volvo, a 1987 on-its-last-legs Toyota Corolla, and the Honda (the luxury vehicle of the three). They sell the Volvo for $1100 and the Toyota for $1400, and pay the sum off to Sandy's sister for about 1/2 the value of the Honda. To be fair.

1998-2001
The Honda transports Sandy and Derek all over Utah, to Arkansas and back, to Oregon a couple of times, and serves them well. Has a run-in with a deer. The Honda fares better than the deer. Sandy and Derek are fine, though both develop a mortal fear of driving on small highways late at night during deer season.

2001
The Honda is hitched to the back of the Ryder truck for the long haul to Massachusetts. Years later, Derek and Sandy decide this is when the Honda not only goes over the Rockies, but also goes over the metaphorical hill. She is never quite the same after this journey.

2001-2005
Not the best years for the Honda, nor for Sandy and Derek's pocketbooks. Lots of repairs, a flood in the driveway, 438 new axles and CV joints and anything else to do with suspension (thanks to Boston roads). If Sandy and Derek didn't feel such loyalty to the Honda, they would have replaced it with something fancier during this time (haha. Really, they were just broke).

April 2005
Honda transports the absolutely adorable, life-changing little creature who will become known as Ava, home from the hospital.

Summer 2006
After the rust spot on the hood spreads to about 3 square feet and Sandy's pride begins to waver, she takes a landmark trip to Home Depot for a $12 investment in Rustoleum primer, spray paint, and metal sandpaper. After a few hours of work, the Honda is a new car. Derek and Sandy determine to make the puppy run another year or so.

April 2005-May 2007
The Honda must love Ava, her friends, her cousins, and their far-flung fishie crackers, because despite its dilapidated appearance, the Honda runs like a champ, for the most part. A few repairs here and there keep Sandy and Derek perusing the car postings on craigslist, but they decide to hang in there and wait until the time is right to say goodbye.

April 2007
The time is right. Though the Honda is relatively youthful with about 186,000 miles on her, Honda begins burning through 1 to 2 quarts of oil a week. Things are not looking good for the Honda. Sandy and Derek begin the car search in earnest.

May 2007
Sandy and Derek (no treason intended) fall for a black Toyota Camry that's a few years old, but looks brand-spanking-new to them. The Camry joins the family. Sandy and Derek spend the next month marveling at the beauty and sophistication of a car made in the 21st century (though they did have to give up a sunroof, a luxury enjoyed in the Honda, except for after heavy rains, when it caused gallons of water to pool in the roof, then gush down the neck and back of an unsuspecting driver shortly thereafter. Sandy and Derek can live without a sunroof.).

July 2007
After 3 postings on craigslist and a couple of drops in the asking price, Sandy and Derek finally meet the woman destined to love the Honda as they have loved it. Or at least, the woman who is willing to pay $400 for it. Sherley, a young student in need of a cheap car, actually seems really excited about the Honda, despite Derek and Sandy's brutal honesty regarding all of its imperfections. Derek and Sandy are relieved to meet Sherley's brother, who is a collector and fixer of old, world-weary Accords. We believe our friend is in good hands.

July 2007-present
Every couple of days (and sometimes several times in one day), Ava looks to her parents with pleading eyes and asks in a sad, bewildered voice, "Where white car go?" Sandy explains that they gave the white car to someone who needed it, and that now they drive the "black car." Ava follows with "I like white car. I no like black car." To which Derek and Sandy respond, "Tough! We like the black car!" and then have a good laugh.

Or if they are feeling sympathetic and nostalgic, they think back over all the good years the Honda gave them: flying down deserted, dusty, desert highways in southern Utah; long talks late at night or long nights of driving and enjoying the silence and togetherness; lulling a new baby back to sleep after a long howling; speeding down the highway full of singing voices crammed with milkshakes and french fries...And at those times, Sandy and Derek might turn to Ava and sincerely say, "Yeah, we like the Honda, too."