Goodbye old friend

Last Thursday Nick took our Pontiac in to a shop because the coolant light kept coming on even after he would fill it up again. See, we had been talking about putting in a dishwasher in the kitchen, but I told him I didn't feel good about it... like something was telling me that we shouldn't because we were going to need that money elsewhere. I told him to figure out what was wrong with his car first and then we could talk dishwasher. He's been able to make basic minor repairs on our cars before, but this one was apparently much more than he could handle and would cost us anywhere from $600 upwards to fix. The dear old Pontiac also badly needed new tires before next winter. As he told me this I sighed a great sigh as my dreams of a dishwasher drifted away... and then began to panic as I realized that we would have to buy a new car.

The Pontiac was a dark green 1995 Grand Prix. It was given to Nick by his parents when he came home from his mission, and then officially became ours when we got married a year later. That car drove us back and forth from home to school and work every day for two years. I took us home to Franklin to visit the family. It took us to California so Nick could "meet the parents" and do 9 one armed push ups for my dad. It took us to Denver, Colorado to visit Papa and Grandma Joan, and all the way to Hugo, Oklahoma to visit our beloved Grammie. That Pontiac took Nick to and from work in Orem every day and eventually came with Nick out here to Iowa where it will probably be laid to rest in the next few years (if the dealership where we traded it can sell it).

Times were not always good with that ole' friend. I have a not so fond memory of the alternator dying (at least I think that was what it was) in the middle of an intersection in the rain on BYU campus. I remember the embarrassment and frustration I had as I was honked at by many cars until I finally found two kind souls to help me push it around a corner. I remember running across campus in the rain to a building where Nick had class... I remember opening doors and peeking in windows to find the right classroom only to tell Nick that the car was dead.

I remember something leaking so we took the car into a shop only to have them put a plumbing pipe on our car! Grrr. I remember when the door handle on the drivers side broke... twice.

Despite all these things, I still loved that car because it was ours! Alas, we didn't even take any pictures of it before we briskly traded it in. The only photo I could find is the one above. It was taken over 3 years ago and the car is only in the picture by accident. Goodbye old friend. You served us well.