So Close and Yet So Far

Yesterday I had a very odd experience. I'll have to take you back a few years before I tell what I saw.

In July 2006 I bought a Hyundai Elantra. It was the perfect little car for me and it became a symbol of a fresh start and independence. It was the first car that had my name on the title and I loved it for that. The girl who owned it before me had these really cute seat covers on the driver's and passenger's seats. They were dark blue with shiny silver butterflies and flowers. So flirty and fun.

Ben's car (or should I say his boat) died a few weeks before we got married so we started sharing my Elantra. We drove it until about this time last year when it got in a wreck. The last time I saw my dear Elantra was when it was getting towed off to to a junk yard. I felt deep sadness as I exchanged the title for a check. It seemed so cheap and wrong.

So I'm driving down the road in Litchfield Park yesterday and I pull up behind a Hyundai Elantra of the exact color as my old Elantra. Then I notice a small dent in the driver's side door. "No way," I'm thinking, "this is too weird." I decide to follow the car a bit and I intentionally miss my turn. I pull up to the passenger's side to find dents on that side, too, right where they should be. And then I see them: the seat covers. It was my car! And the cute little couple driving in it had no idea that they were sitting on such sacred fabric. They had no idea where my car had come from, what she had been through, how much I loved her and missed her. We moved to Arizona in that car. We brought Tommy home from the hospital in that car. At first I was elated. Then I got really sad and stayed that way for a few hours. It was like seeing a really good old friend, but not being able to talk to them. It was like waving goodbye to someone you know you'll never see again without being noticed or acknowledged by them.

Maybe I am crazy. I'll admit that. But what are the odds that I would run into her again, especially after I thought she was going to be disassembled and sold for parts? Really.

So, friends, take an extra moment today to love your car. Maybe even have someone take your picture with it. You never know when it will be gone.