A Fond Farewell.....

I remember the very day we got this little van of ours. May of 2000. Ethan was 5 months old. Our car was dying and we needed something new. I really wanted a ford explorer. Or any kind of SUV. The only thing I refused to purchase was a mini-van. Too stereo-typical for me. After test driving vehicles every Saturday for 3 months with this one particular sales lady, she was sick of us. We showed up again and she was busy. She made herself busy and was noticeably ignoring us. So, we met Ed. He was in his early 50's. We told him our recent history. He smiled and said "I have just the vehicle for you to try". It was a mini-van. I refused. "I think you guys should just try it. It'll surprise you." Surprise me it did. 3 blocks later found us kicking tires, moving seats forward and back, opening doors, locking, unlocking, and blasting the stereo. We couldn't resist. We drove it off the lot that very afternoon. That poor sales lady that lost her commission. We got a lot of guff for buying such a large vehicle for such a small family. But we were looking into the future of medical school budgets and birthing babies. In 2003 when all our medical school friends were birthing their 3rd child and needing to upgrade vehicle size, we were able to avoid that very scenario. I have sure loved this van. We all have. A lot of memories. The orange stain under the cup holder because the McDonalds drink ate through the bottom of the cup left over night. The red crystal light stain close by because an angry child hurled his "spill proof" sippy cup up to the front in protest of something. Gum wads. Wrappers buried so deep in the recesses of the seats they will never be found. Numerous vomit clean-ups. And that isn't even the good stuff. Countless road trips. Out west and back. Nauvoo. St. Louis. Chicago. And everything in between. Sandy lake trips. Sandy park trips. A lot of laughter. And a lot of tears. We are now filled to capacity. We can either take all our people, or all our stuff. But not both. We just don't fit. My kids legs are getting longer and their bodies are getting larger. We are feeling a little cramped. It's time to bid farewell to the faithful van that has gotten us where we need to be for the last 10 years. Hopefully this baby will see us through the next 10.

Or 20. Or until all the kids have moved off to college.