Good-Bye Old Friend

I just watched our old truck drive away with its new owner. We needed to sell it, but I hated to watch it drive away.

It was the first car my husband bought as a grown-up. He was so proud of its shiny blue body and loud, rumbling engine. It was only a few years old at the time, and looked as if it were new.

We drove it the long 12 hour drive to visit our parents many times. Its bench seat wasn’t the most comfortable after all that time, but it was dependable and sure and got us there and back easily.

It is the car we left our wedding in with “Just Married” painted on the back window. Its the car my new husband was driving when he got a speeding ticket on the way to get those decorations washed off.

We drove our blue truck on the day we went to the hospital to have Little Kid #1 and drove home with our new baby tucked into the car seat nestled between us. I’ll always remember the way she looked all scrunched up in her chair in that big blue truck.

It was the high point of our day to hear that engine come rumbling up the street. We all knew that DAD was home and the children would pour out of the house shrieking his name and begging to be hugged and carried back inside. His new car is practical and nice, but it sounds like every other car on the street, so he often has to actually walk inside before we know he’s home. I will miss the excitement generated by the sound of that old engine.

We have a bigger family now, and a vehicle that only seats 3 doesn’t make sense for a family of 7, but it was sad to see it go. I’ll admit to sitting here crying over my husband’s beat up, rusty old pickup. I’m a softy that way I guess. I hope its new owner enjoys it as much as we have. He has all kinds of plans for souping up the engine and the cool new paint job.

Good-bye old friend. We will miss you.