I wrote this post originally back in November… but it was stuck in my drafts for quite some time… and now it’s out of my drafts… and that’s a better place for it.
Today we said a final farewell to my old faithful Jeep Wrangler. This car has been the only car that I’ve ever owned since I was in high school. I remember the day that we bought the car. There are a lot of things that I am sure I forget but this car had some incredible memories in 19 years. I had this car for more than half my life. A person can do a whole lot of living in that time.
But the car has been such a part of my identity in a way. I loved how small it was. I knew every nook of that car. I knew how much space I had for parking, turns, packing, and more importantly … before running out of gas which I never did once. I knew there was a tennis ball stuck in the corner of the truck for probably the last 8 years. I could have easily gotten it out, but never really got around to it until today.
In a weird way, I feel like saying “good bye” to the old Jeep is a way of me letting go of any baggage and (some) immaturity lingering. At times I can have an incredible case of “grownup” imposter syndrome, and maybe letting go of the car I drove with my first boyfriend will help that. In spite of being a home owner with a mortgage and graduate school debt, I sometimes just don’t feel like I’m old enough for any of this. But in reality I really am. At least, the bank who gave me the mortgage believes I am.
In the spirit of saying farewell to the Jeep, I wrote down a bunch of lists of things that happened in that car. I miss it. There is absolutely no way that my modern Jeep Cherokee with electric seats will have nearly as many memories. It’s just not possible.
Work // Here are all the jobs that I drove this car to.
- lifeguarding in Hingham. On several occasions I had to call my dad to pick up the car because it would be raining and I would have forgotten to put up the soft top.
- interning in Quincy between my junior and senior year of college
- driving it around Mass during my years in public accounting.
- driving it to NJ for that summer I lived there
- back and forth to the airport when I worked for IBM
- back and forth to the train station when I moved to the burbs
Incidents / Accidents // When reading this list, please keep in mind that it happened over the course of 19 years.
- I hit the light post in the driveway. Square on. I did not clip it. I am still not sure how this happened.
- I rear ended a woman in Hingham on my way to get my first bank account before college.
- One time in college, I came out to the car completely crooked in a parking spot … and a parking ticket. According to the campus police, a bunch of strong guys probably thought it would be fun to lift the car and move it. Not joking. I didn’t pay the ticket obviously.
- A woman rear ended me just before the 4th of July in Cohasset. She was an odd duck.
- A pipe flew off a Clean Harbors truck on my way home for Thanksgiving one year and dented the front hood of the car. Could have killed me, but no biggie.
- But the worst time was the day I graduated from College, I got into a small accident on the highway… and then ran over a family of ducks. Yes, a family.
“Boyfriends” that rode in the car… term used loosely in some occasions. Not that it’s a competition, but not every person I dated has rode in my car. I’ve dated more than 4 people.
- Chris // driving it to Kingston to see that boy that would never really kiss me. I remember parking it in his side yard next to his Jeeps. He was the first one to teach me about the “Jeep Wave”
- Justin // driving it to Vermont for a romantic weekend. Picking him up from the airport countless times. He never picked me up from the airport once.
- Tom // I was pretty lazy when we dated. I think I made him do most of the driving … but I’m pretty sure that I drove us to the movies once.
- Per // Not a real boyfriend, but I did pick him up from the train for a suburbs date. Boys were always rather interested in the fact that I drove an old Jeep Wrangler. Per was one of them.
Places it’s been driven // I am by nature a homebody but that doesn’t mean the car hasn’t always stayed in the driveway.
- Furthest South = Philadelphia to visit my boyfriend at the time when I was in NJ
- Furthest West = Yankee Candle
- Furthest North = Christmas Cove Maine or Vermont
- Furthest East = Provincetown? I don’t think it ever made it to the Vineyard
Times I remember calling AAA
- When I got my first flat tire driving to have lunch with my mom. They couldn’t figure out where I was so a nice highway worker and his friend changed it for me. Never told anyone that story before… but he said “I wouldn’t want my own daughter out here by herself”. I did ask them both for ID first. Nerd.
- Dead batteries multiple times at BC. I habitually forgot to turn off the interior lights.
- When I locked my keys in the car attending an MBA info session at MIT. After breaking into the car, I then found the keys in the bottom of my gym bag which was on my shoulder the entire time. For what it’s worth, we found 4 spare keys in the console of the car while cleaning it today.
- Multiple times that summer in NJ for “hose issues”. It was a very expensive 3 months. The upside is I did improve my negotiating skills with car mechanics.
- But the scariest was when I broke down on a highway in Newark, the cars were going by so fast that the car was shaking on the side of the road. I managed to get off the highway (dumb move) and into a dunkin donuts parking lot. I’ve never been so freaked out for my safety than I was waiting for AAA at that Dunkin Donuts. My bf at the time was in Peru and I remember sending him blackberry messages panicking.
Things that were broken and I never fixed
- CD player // this stopped working after year two or so. Technically it still worked if you just wanted to listen to a cd in the exact order and not skip tracks. In hind sight, I think I left my Vertical Horizon cd in the player when I sold the car. It has been in there for 17 years. I’m not kidding.
- gas gauge // for probably the last two years the gas gauge has not really been accurate. So I would always reset the odometer every time I got gas and refill before I drove 250 miles.
- peeling paint // for some reason the paint would always peel on certain hinges and mirrors… and not others. I’m not sure why but after fixing it once, it felt like a never ending cycle.
Memorable Passengers
- Taking my grandfather for a ride one father’s day I think. He said he hadn’t been in a Jeep since the war.
- In high school, Taking my grandmother to Hingham for my prom dress fitting appointment. I just scanned a picture of this the other day.
- While I was in grad school, I drove my friend Will and I to our eye doctor appointments in Belmont. Half way there a spider started to crawl down the front windshield, Will reached out and smack it… and shattered the windshield. He felt terrible. I could only laugh. The spider was dead and that’s all that mattered.
- Driving my sister and I back from Boston on countless occasions. She would be singing like an idiot in the passenger seat… and I’d record her. I still have these videos.
- One million trips to Dunkin Donuts with my brother. I have no idea how many honestly, like 19 years worth. He grew up from a car seat in the back to the front passenger seat… and even to the driver seat.
Times I remember the odometer
- 77,777 = August 2009 // driving back from Philly the summer I lived in NJ
- 100,000 = December 2015 // I moved home to the burbs from Boston
- 121,499 = November 2018 // the day I sold the car
