Obit For A Little Blue Car

I promise to keep this short, but be warned that it may be both maudlin and saccharine at the same time.

Seven years ago I was in graduate school. I was in the middle phase of my studies which meant a full class load, a major research project, and full-time teaching. It's one of those times in life when you are in danger of forgetting what your friends and family look like. My teaching assignment was 9th grade American history in a small town not far from the university. I hated this class. The amazing thing about 9th graders in this school is that half of them hate you before you even walk through the door simply because you are the teacher. I did not drink at the time, but they almost convinced me to take it up. Did I mention the part where I had less than no money? In short, I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself.

My car was also a source of trouble. I was driving a Toyota with more than 250K on the clock. The compression was gone from the engine, the water pump was going, there was a serious dent in the frame from an old accident (not mine thank you very much), and every time you used the turn signal the brights would come on. The car did get me where I needed to go, but it was not much fun keeping it running. Then came Christmas.

Well, okay, it was actually a little before Christmas, but still. My older brother called, and asked if I might want a different car. His co-worker was going to donate his extra car to charity, so my brother offered him a very small purchase price instead. I jumped at the chance. I didn't really know what I was getting, but anything with fewer miles had to be an improvement. My sister-in-law drove it down the following weekend. It was nearly mid-night when she arrived. I went out into the frosty November night, and... words fail me. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it really was one of those moments.

At the time, the car was already nearly ten years old. However, it had only 40k, and it had been garaged through most of its life. In short, it was mint. Driving it for the first time was also quite the experience. The power and handling of that car were the perfect fit for the Mazda jingle "Zoom Zoom." That was only the beginning of our good times together. I won't bore you with too many (more) details, but having the RX-7 really was as good as I imagined. Perhaps my favorite drive was Peoria road where the pavement was in good shape and road curved and went over gentle hills. You could drive fast and not meet another car for miles.

Of course, there was the sad bit at the end where she got less and less reliable. However, none of us can help our failings when we start to get old. It was really hard signing the papers to sell, but it was time. I am grateful that I got the chance at all. I could have spent those years driving some other nice, reliable, and totally boring car, but I got to have my little blue RX-7 instead.