THE LAST RIDE!
A few weeks ago I had a pretty emotional experience. I had received a recall notice on my pickup truck. There was the possibility of rust on the frame. The truck was 13 years old. I looked underneath the truck, at the frame and thought I would see a little rust, like you see on a pipe. To my surprise there were holes in the steel frame, and pieces of the frame were peeling off! Yikes! This is the main frame that runs from the front to the back and supports the entire truck. I knew this did not look good. I called the dealer and made an appointment for an inspection. I drove over to Haverhill and arrived in the service area at 8:46am. If the truck failed the inspection, they would take it off the road and buy it back from me, for much more than the blue book value. I had a feeling this could be the last ride!
As I got out of the truck I patted the passenger seat. That's where my mother used to sit when we went for rides around the Cape and when we lived in Danbury, Ct. My brother in law's dog would spend a month with us in the summer- we called it summer camp for the dog! I used to drive around with him sitting there in the front seat, sticking his head out the window, ears flapping in the breeze. My oldest daughter who is now in Texas would sit there as we went for rides in the countryside while renting a cottage in Maine during the summers. I thought of all those memories as I walked around the truck and looked at the bed. That's where we carried our kayaks, mountain bikes and the huge lobster pot when we went to Maine for 2 weeks every summer. 13 years in that truck,
My wife and I hang on to our cars. 13 years for both of them. They become part of the family, just like our pets and houses. One of the most emotional times I ever had in my life, was when we sold our house in Danbury 3 years ago and moved to Newburyport. We lived in that house for 22 years-all the holidays, cookouts, family gatherings, a wedding, showers, all the pictures taken in front of the fireplace, the vegetable garden, the whiffleball games, all the fires I had over the years, etc. Driving down that driveway in the truck for the last time, stopping at the bottom of the hill, and looking back at the house for the last time was tough!
And the 3 cats we had over the 22 years were all buried in the wildflower garden. So many memories with them as well. And when I was growing up we had a dog for 17 years, who grew up with me. From junior high, college, marriage, and almost to the first baby. And he was a part of the family too. I don't think a day goes by where I don't think of him and all his antics!
And so it is with cars and trucks. 5 minutes after I got into the waiting room-hadn't even had a chance to drink my coffee, the service manager came in and said he had bad news! The rust was too bad for the truck to be driven. There was a possibility the frame would just break as I was driving and could cause an accident. So they gave me a free loaner until I decided what to do. Well, I bought a new truck. With the buyback I got a brand new truck at basically 60%! Not bad. So this week I went over to the dealer to pickup the check. The old truck was sitting out back of the dealership, all by itself, under some trees.. It had lots of dust on it and the bed was full of leaves. It still looked pretty good. I was going to hang onto it for 3 more years and hit 200k in mileage. They told me it was going to be towed to Boston, they would recycle what they could and then crush it I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I walked around it one last time, touched it, ran my hands along the outside, thought of all the wonderful times and walked away with moist eyes. As Bob Hope used to say, "thanks for the memories."
But I walked to the other side of the dealership, got into my brand new pickup and will start a new set of memories. The kayaks, mountain bikes, and the lobster pot will be going in it 2 weeks from today as we head off to Long Lake in Maine for 2 glorious weeks. Let the new memories begin!!
Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time, I remain "sentimental" FRAN
As I got out of the truck I patted the passenger seat. That's where my mother used to sit when we went for rides around the Cape and when we lived in Danbury, Ct. My brother in law's dog would spend a month with us in the summer- we called it summer camp for the dog! I used to drive around with him sitting there in the front seat, sticking his head out the window, ears flapping in the breeze. My oldest daughter who is now in Texas would sit there as we went for rides in the countryside while renting a cottage in Maine during the summers. I thought of all those memories as I walked around the truck and looked at the bed. That's where we carried our kayaks, mountain bikes and the huge lobster pot when we went to Maine for 2 weeks every summer. 13 years in that truck,
My wife and I hang on to our cars. 13 years for both of them. They become part of the family, just like our pets and houses. One of the most emotional times I ever had in my life, was when we sold our house in Danbury 3 years ago and moved to Newburyport. We lived in that house for 22 years-all the holidays, cookouts, family gatherings, a wedding, showers, all the pictures taken in front of the fireplace, the vegetable garden, the whiffleball games, all the fires I had over the years, etc. Driving down that driveway in the truck for the last time, stopping at the bottom of the hill, and looking back at the house for the last time was tough!
And the 3 cats we had over the 22 years were all buried in the wildflower garden. So many memories with them as well. And when I was growing up we had a dog for 17 years, who grew up with me. From junior high, college, marriage, and almost to the first baby. And he was a part of the family too. I don't think a day goes by where I don't think of him and all his antics!
And so it is with cars and trucks. 5 minutes after I got into the waiting room-hadn't even had a chance to drink my coffee, the service manager came in and said he had bad news! The rust was too bad for the truck to be driven. There was a possibility the frame would just break as I was driving and could cause an accident. So they gave me a free loaner until I decided what to do. Well, I bought a new truck. With the buyback I got a brand new truck at basically 60%! Not bad. So this week I went over to the dealer to pickup the check. The old truck was sitting out back of the dealership, all by itself, under some trees.. It had lots of dust on it and the bed was full of leaves. It still looked pretty good. I was going to hang onto it for 3 more years and hit 200k in mileage. They told me it was going to be towed to Boston, they would recycle what they could and then crush it I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. I walked around it one last time, touched it, ran my hands along the outside, thought of all the wonderful times and walked away with moist eyes. As Bob Hope used to say, "thanks for the memories."
But I walked to the other side of the dealership, got into my brand new pickup and will start a new set of memories. The kayaks, mountain bikes, and the lobster pot will be going in it 2 weeks from today as we head off to Long Lake in Maine for 2 glorious weeks. Let the new memories begin!!
Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time, I remain "sentimental" FRAN
posted by Fran Larkin at
6:16 AM
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