The Car of a Thousand Days

Today, I said good-bye to my car. It was a 2006 Honda Accord, with all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, last Friday, as I was driving my normal route that I've driven on a daily basis for the past 2.5 years, I was involved in a traffic incident. Wasn't really an accident in that no one or no vehicle besides mine was affected or damaged. A lady in a commercial van in front of me had suddenly stepped on her brakes, and, to avoid rear ending her, I swerved off the road to the right. The good thing is that I didn't hit her, because she had three little boys in the back seat. The bad thing is that I hit a concrete driveway culvert cap, head on, and the collision was hard enough to deploy my driver's side air bag. As I skidded to a stop 65 feet later, I knew it was bad but I also knew no one was hurt. I assessed the situation, confirmed that I was ok, then proceeded to get pissed off because this was the third incident I've had in the past 18 months. The first two involved hitting deer in the road. I've driven in Northern Maine for years and never saw a deer, let alone hit one. I've driven in Arizona for years after that -- no coyotes, no cows, no deer. Been in North Carolina for over 12 years and never hit anything...until this past year. What's interesting to me is that, shortly after I hit the first deer, my life changed in a bad way. Lots of changes in my personal life. Lots of family hurt psychologically. Lots of emotional pain and suffering. Lots of different emotions coming from heretofore unexpected sources -- some very good, some not so much. Then my life changed back to the way it was before. And guess what? I hit another deer. It's like it was meant to be metaphorical book-ends to mark this year in hell that I just went through. And now, as if to say it has served its purpose, I had one more accident -- this time to finish the deal and kill the car for good. At first, I wondered if this is a "sign" that I'm about to start another volatile chapter in my life. Hard to imagine what else is on the horizon for me. The good news is that I wasn't hurt in this accident -- if that happened, it would have spelled disaster for me and the family. Ok, I get it, I'm very lucky and I should be thankful, and I am. What you may not know is that I really loved my car. It was fun, fast (for me), sporty, had lots of gadgets, and it fit me perfectly. And I had plenty of fun memories with that car, so many times, so many ways. Certain passengers in that car made for very memorable moments that I will never forget. I'll have to incorporate them somehow in my next book, I guess. Let's just say it wasn't all "G" rated. No, nothing like High School Days, but pretty close. On the flip side, I have many great memories of driving down the road, radio blaring, sun roof open, loving life while taking sharp turns or singing along with my kids in the back. It introduced me to Satellite Radio, and I'll never go back if I can help it. Maybe that's why the Universe found a reason to end it -- as if to confirm to me that I need to move on from the past and evolve to the next stage of my life. And I'm good with it. In a way, it reminds me of my youth: I had a great time, and I always knew, when I was having a great time, that these times were not forever and all good things come to an end. And so the book closes on the Mighty Honda. I don't know what is in store for me for the next car, but I look forward to whatever it is, and I hope it's more good than bad -- as I drive just a few miles per hour slower...