It began 10 years ago. We just moved to Indiana. We finally were settled in our home and the kids had their friends and schools in order. It was time to figure out the best car to get for our family. We decided on a Honda mini van, knowing how safe and dependable of a car it was to transport our family. There were no special bells and whistles to it...I didn't even like the color. But I knew it would get the kids and all their frientds to soccer and back, take the girl scout troup camping and all the other functions we were involved in for the next few years. It also safely got us to all our family vacations we went on. Then, we had teenagers and as my husband did with each child, he took them to the middle school and that is where they each had their first experience behind the wheel of a car. Each of them learned to drive in that silver Honda mini van. And with each new driver in our house, I had to give up sole ownership of the car and share it with the current new driver. It had bumps and bangs and even a broken back window, but it was always reliable for us.
Usually we would sell our cars before they have too much mileage on them, but the economy pushed our decision back for a few years more. So, we had to get more use out of the mini van than expected. Now it was used for taking kids to college, moving to apartments and anything else we needed. We started with one college sticker on the bumper then another proudly displaying our kids schools. In all those years, it never broke down and got us safely to every location we had to go to whether it was stuffed to the brim where we couldn't move or traveling by myself to work and back. And toward the end, it actually became the youngest's car. My husband was so generous in getting me a more sporty car now that we had older kids that I didn't need to drive a mini van anymore.
And I knew this day was coming. The day we would have to sell the van. The mommobile, as it was fondly referred to. It was no longer necessary. I had a new car, the older two kids had theirs and the youngest was going to college and couldn't take a car. We had it parked in front of the house for a few weeks, but knew it was not neccessary anymore. It served it's purpose. It was getting past its prime and we had to move on. So we sold the car. Before it was gone I was out there taking pictures like it was my first born child. It sounds so funny, but that car had so many memories attached to it. Now don't get me wrong, I do love my more sporty, hip car, but when I see a Honda Odyysey mini van go by on the road, It does bring a smile to my face and I go back in time just for a minute with the memories that were shared in that big silver mini van car.
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