When I wrote-off our old car by letting it roll down our steep driveway into the ravine (as the recovery man referred to it) at the bottom of the hill, I was absolutely distraught.
It was so sudden and unexpected. One minute I was lovingly vacuuming the seats, and lobbing bits of digestive biscuit and banana out over the hedge, and the next minute the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner had caught the handbrake button and released it! I jumped out of the way to see my beloved car go hurtling off out of sight, the open doors flying off as they hit trees on the way down.
I
was hysterical, and had nightmares for months afterwards, and kept thinking
about all the ‘what ifs?’ And I
really mourned the loss of this car – it had become part of the family, and had
taken us far and wide.
Living
in the middle of nowhere with two small children, we obviously had to get
another car immediately. My
save-the-planet husband wanted to go smaller and get a Smart car (??!), and I,
being a far more practical person (ie knowing that we needed a car that would
fit at least four people), wanted to go bigger and get a people carrier – it
was the sensible option.
People
carriers are looked down on by 4X4 owners (in these parts anyway), and are seen
as a little uncool. But not being
a very cool person, and wanting to save myself a lot of cash, I really didn’t
care.
Our
eldest daughter, Betty, is now at school and the extra seats needed to ferry
her and her friends here, there and everywhere have come into their own. Not to mention the extra boot space for
all our camping trips. I also love
that you are much higher up than in an ‘ordinary’ car (sorry old car), and you
get to see over hedges and into people’s gardens.
Every
so often my youngest daughter will point and say: ‘Why did you let our other
car crash down there?’ And my
older daughter now has the old car key on her key-ring, which I often find
under beds, and in plant pots etc.
But
apart from these emotional little reminders now and then, I have finally been able to
move on, and have wholeheartedly accepted our new car into our family – in fact, I positively
love her!
And
I now feel a real sense of loyalty towards her, and will defend her to the hilt
if anyone dare say anything off-hand about people carriers.
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sponsored by Jennings Ford
