When I finally moved to Albuquerque there was a beautiful Ford Focus waiting for me in our driveway. Tinted windows, spoiler, sparkly champagne colour. We named her Gloria. Of course, I was terrified to drive her at first, since driving on the opposite side of the road seemed like a recipe for disaster. Slowly though, I built up the courage and she and I explored Albuquerque together. We started small, staying within a few blocks of home as I learned my way around the city. Eventually we built up to driving on the motorway and even through the canyon. We never looked back.
A few years ago we made our final payment and knew that she'd be ours forever. She travelled with us across state lines when we moved to Nevada. She brought our baby girl home from the hospital. We travelled almost 70,000 miles on those four wheels and we were just getting started. She'd be the car Charlotte would learn to drive in...
But then there was the accident- the collision with the volkswagon that burned through the stop sign and pulled out right in front of us. Slamming on the breaks and Gloria's best efforts just weren't enough; there was no stopping in time. She was hurt. I found her grill lying in the middle of the road. Her bonnet was bent, bumper scratched. Still, I was convinced that a few days in the body shop were all that she'd need before we had her back on the road and back in our garage.
That's when Igor called; with a name like that he couldn't be bearing anything but bad news. The damage was worse that we'd thought- her frame wasn't just scratched but bent and as far as Igor was concerned she just wasn't worth the cost to fix her. Gloria's spot in the garage stands empty and there was nothing left for us to do. Reluctantly, we said our goodbyes this afternoon, almost four years to the day since I first climbed into the drivers seat.
Goodbye Gloria; we had a good run.
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