Today my parents are selling our '66 Mustang. I am sad, but I have always known this day would come.
My dad bought the Mustang for me when I was 17. Needless to say, I was a very lucky and grateful girl. The first morning of my junior year of high school I drove it in the company of my two girlfriends, Cassie and Sarah. I was far too excited to "let the car warm up before you drive it", as dad told me. We jumped in the car and drove off to school.... Then staled out about 30 times as we slowly made our way to campus, laughing the whole time! So much for a grand entrance.
I have so many wonderful memories with that car. I was no where near "cool", but I do feel like that beautiful teal green mustang gave me a little help.
We would go cruising at lunch and after school. I loved being able to pull up on campus, behind the band room. We didn't rent a limo for Winter Formal, we all piled into the Mustang. I remember the night the band was out late for Homecoming, and one of the drummers unraveled (by mistake) the fabric on the inside, because he couldn't stop drumming on the seat. #adrummerthing
The night we opened the Spring Musical was the first night I got pulled over. Nadia and I were so excited about our show and I guess we charmed the nice police man and he let me go. (That, unfortunately, never happened again.) The only bad thing about the car was the stereo system. A very bad tape player that usually hated everything. There was only one tape that always played. NOFX, Punk in Drublic. That stayed in the car, long after high school. Fats, Adam, Brian and I would rock out to nothing else. (Mostly because we couldn't.) Jennifer Harris and I had matching Mustangs. This always made the adventures of the weekend that much sweeter. We always had fun and we were "safe"... For the most part. I was a 17 year old who knew how to keep cool and toss the car into neutral so she could restart the engine before being hit by on coming traffic! (This was before dad rebuilt the engine.)
I got my first job at Disney and in 1999 the Tinker Bell sticker was added to the center of the back window. I would like to say that I was the first person I knew to have Tink on their car. Maybe I started a trend! Or maybe I just worked for Disney at the right time. There I met my second Mustang buddy, Breanne. You know someone is awesome when they can do their own custom paint job on their '67.
In 2003 I got a "real" car. The mustang moved back to my parents house and we only saw each other on the weekends. Dad took off Tinker Bell and it became his new fun car. I was okay with this, but in my heart, it will always be my car.
The day Gabe and I got married, we drove my mustang off into the sunset. Now it drives off to Oregon, to join a new family and make new, wonderful memories for them. And Mr. and Mrs. New Mustang Owner, if she ever gets lonely just play The Brews, she likes that song.
I’m quite certain that Mr. & Mrs. New Mustang Owner would take good care of your ride, knowing how much you value that vehicle. And I totally understand your feelings. At times, it is hard to part with something valuable to us, especially when it has become an important part of your life. For instance, our beloved wheels and rides. They have become a silent witness to a lot of the important moments and beautiful memories in our lives. But as they say, life goes on, and your ride will become a witness to other people’s lives.
ReplyDeleteErwin Calverley
I hear you, Amber. It is really hard to let go of things that gave you so much to remember by. And in your case, it was your old auto. Reading your post, I can feel how much you treasured that car, but you had to let it go for practical reasons. The car may not be around anymore, but the memories will never fade. All you have to do is to remember the happy times you spent with your dear vehicle.
ReplyDelete[Sebastian Gaydos]
It seems that you have quite an adventure with your car. And I do understand you. I, too, felt a twinge of pain when I gave up my favorite car. It was an old Dodge car hand-me-down from my dad. But it was giving away so I had to give it up. Good thing a new auto came my way. It compensated for the pain. :-) -Kyle Schmidt]
ReplyDelete