My Car

I have always loved my car! I got it in October of 2008 and my Daddy blessed me with buying it new so that I can have it for a long, long time and not pay for a car until I'm at least 30 (ok, maybe overstatement BUT I hope so!). Funny aside: When we were shopping for it the car salesman even started talking about how it was a great car for kids and yadayadayada--I think it freaked my Dad out a little that this could be the car I drive my family around in one day. Aside done--back to my story.
I name objects, my whole family does, and those names reflect the "personality" of their respective objects. For example: my coffeemaker's name is "Javier" (he's sleek and hot [get it? hot]) , my J.Crew necklace that's an elephant is "Fred" (he just looks like a Fred), my childhood blanket is "Blankie" but the corner I sucked my thumb with is "Corny" and the little creature in the opposite corner whose eyelids are all tired and droopy looking was "Night-Night" (yes, 3 names, one object. . . I was a particular child). So with all those names, of course my car had to have a good one. He (yes, he) was dubbed Fin. You see Fin is a white, 2009 Hyundai Sonata and the antenna on that model is very dolphin fin- and cute-looking, one of the things that I love about him.

3 years later and Fin is about to hit his 29,000 mile birthday (yes, only 29,000 miles in 3 years--I love it! Maybe I will have him 'til I'm 30)! He and I have taken many road trips back and forth to Clemson, one or two to North Carolina, a few to Charleston and errrr, that's about it!

Note the "fin"

Well, I have always liked Fin a whole lot but never really truly appreciated him until yesterday. Yesterday, on my way home from class I was taking the off-ramp off 76 and turning right onto 93. I was stopped completely at the red light, humming to my Christmas music, and watching the traffic and then that sickening metal on metal sound and a jolt. Ugggghhhh. Got out, saw that the girl was okay and told her to follow me to a parking lot right off 93. Apparently, her brakes stopped working and so she crashed into the back of me (although they worked just fine when she drove into the parking lot and parked in a space). If that's truly the case I am glad I was there to keep her from going into the oncoming traffic.
Anyway, I call the police and the wait for them to get there begins (Hint: no one get seriously injured in Clemson and need help fast). Poor girl is really flustered and tells me how glad she is that it was me and how she just knew it was going to be a 50 year old woman screaming at her who came out of that nice, new car (Is this a compliment to my shiny, clean car [thanks mom and dad for insisting I get it washed last time I was home] or should I be upset that she basically told me I had an old-person car??). Policeman finally comes, determines that her front bumper went up under my back bumper on impact, and goes to start writing the accident report. But my flustered friend isn't done. She stops the nice policeman and asks, "Do you know what time it is? I have to be at the courthouse by 1:30 to pay a ticket." He gave her a bit of an incredulous look (in a kind way), told her the time, and made his way to his car to write the report. I had to remind myself to shut my mouth and turned to get out of the cold rain and text my mom to give her a heads-up that Fin would need a new bumper.
Finally the report was done and we were all able to go on our merry way. Oh, and the girl definitely still had time to make it to the courthouse by 1:30.
My sheer relief that it wasn't my fault and that Fin isn't super-damaged is tinged with a little sadness though. First, when the girl explained to the policeman that her brakes wouldn't work, he gently told her that she didn't need to be driving it and she sighed and said "But it's my only form of transportation." Here I was standing by my "shiny, new, 50 year-old woman car" that  my parents so graciously have blessed me with and she is so unable to afford better brakes that she's risking her life driving around every day. I then got the insurance report and not only is the car in her name, but also the insurance. I was so proud of her for doing the legal thing and even having insurance (I am sure it's not easy to see money going out of your already-low account if it doesn't buy you food or a roof over your head.) but it made me sad that she had to absorb that cost on her own. She's a student at Tri-county in the Dental Hygiene program and it wouldn't shock me if she was paying her way through that on her own.
I don't understand paying a honkin' tuition check or fighting for my next meal or not having a financial and emotional safety net below me for the few things that I actually pay for. The whole thing was an eye-opener. Today as I drove Fin around I found myself going slower over the speed bumps in my apartment parking lot, braking a whole lot earlier in the Clemson "rush hour" traffic, and whipping into my parking spot a whole lot more carefully. So thankful to have a car that is safe and reliable and (mostly) intact. As I listened to my Christmas playlist that is chock full of songs that I didn't blink at the price of when downloading, I began to think about what I have and what I think I "need." Catharine, "need" means nothing to you. You don't know the meaning of that word.
I hope and pray that the girl is able to get a more reliable car soon. I hope that she has someone to spend Christmas with who loves her and who she can love back. I hope that she didn't get another ticket that would cost her more money she didn't need to spend. And I hope that I never forget how stinkin' blessed I am that the Lord chose me to be my parents' child and how much they have scrimped and saved on themselves to provide above and beyond for their children and others. I pray that with every material blessing I have in my life I seek to glorify the Lord with it, just as they have done, whether that be with a car, money, a home, a job,  anything and everything.