Well, I knew this day was going to come sooner or later, but it didn’t make it any easier. After I graduated college in 2001 and landed a full-time job, I treated myself and bought a new car. This wasn’t any car, though. It was a 2001 Mustang GT. I had wanted a Mustang since I was in high school…maybe even before that. So, when I happened to catch a local car dealership’s ad in the paper in December of 2001 with significant discounts on their remaining 2001 Mustang inventory, I jumped at the chance to finally buy one.
I loved this car. I can’t remember who came up with the name, me or Stacy, but we named her Misty. Stacy and I had a lot of good times (and two not-so-good times) with her. It’s funny how I seem to remember the not-so-good times more than the good times. I have the same problem with dreams. I only seem to remember the bad ones.
The first truly bad time we had in the Mustang was when we were on our way to have dinner at Red Lobster and another car failed to stop at a stop light and nailed us on the front passenger side just in front of the door. Stacy saw him before I did and yelled at me so I was able to slow down a little bit before he hit us. Fortunately, we were both able to walk away uninjured, although Stacy’s foot & ankle were a little sore from slamming on the imaginary brake on her side of the car. It could have been much worse for Stacy if I hadn’t slowed down and he nailed the passenger side door. When the cops arrived, they suspected the other driver was drunk and gave him a field sobriety test, which he failed.
The second bad incident I had with the Mustang was during the winter a couple of years ago. We were on our way from somewhere (I can’t remember where), I hit a patch of black ice, lost control, jumped a curb, took out a small tree and a speed limit sign, and finally came to a stop in a bank parking lot. Just like the incident with the drunk driver, Stacy and I walked away uninjured. The Mustang wasn’t so lucky and needed some surgery to make her good as new. Other than those two mishaps, the Mustang served me well for eight years. She took us on many uneventful road trips.
When Stacy was pregnant with James, I envisioned passing the Mustang down to him someday. After James was born, though, it became apparent that he would probably never be able to drive. Because he required so much medical equipment to go with him wherever he went, I made the hard decision to trade in the Mustang and buy something a little more family friendly; something that had room for everything that James needed. I am not one of those people that is committed to just one brand of car. While I have never owned a Chrysler product, I have bounced between Ford and GM cars. Since I had relatively good luck with the Mustang, I decided to get another Ford. Looking at their available SUVs, I had the choice between an Escape, an Edge, or and Explorer. (I ruled out the Expedition right away because it was way too big). I decided to go with the Edge because I thought that the Escape would be too small, and the Explorer was going to be a bit on the big side. The Edge seemed like just the right size.
After 8 years and 104,000 miles, I said goodbye to the Mustang and brought home a 2010 Ford Edge. I don’t have any pics yet, but I’ll try to remember to take one and post it here.
