In Loving Memory

Well, It's hard to say, "Goodbye"

and let go.
And it's hard to see it end.
When the memories we just made may never happen again.
But it's harder for time to ever erase, the together times we've shared.
So, when we're apart, remember, all the love we've shared together...
(Do these lyrics ring a bell for all you 37-42ish yr. olds out there?)


Yesterday, we had to say goodbye to our awesome Suburban.

And it wasn't just because it was missing a very important driver's side door handle - I'd learned to live with THAT.


You see, six weeks ago, on our way down to St. George, half the transmission went out.
3rd and 4th gears -- completely GONE!
Which means we can't drive freeway speeds in it.
Which is a slight problem when there's 300 miles of freeway between where it went out and St. George!
We, lovingly, refer to that time as the "transmission adventure."
I won't go into it all...but the "adventure" involves the middle of the night, calling relatives at an insane hour, "sleeping" (or not) on someone's Family Room floor & couches, a $1,900 repair estimate (which we declined), driving the back roads from Orem to home to avoid freeway speeds (2 1/2 hrs. worth), borrowing a car, unpacking & repacking, and finally arriving at our St. George destination 21 hours AFTER we first set out to go!

Since then, we have known we need to get a new car, but I just wasn't ready (financially & emotionally) for this to happen, yet!
And since we could still drive it up to 40 mph, we have been these past 6 weeks.
In second gear.
Which makes a Suburban EVEN MORE of a gas guzzler than it already is!


The thing that made it harder was I thought I was only taking in the Suburban to let the car dealership owner have a look at it, so he could tell me how much they would give us for it (AS IS.) And then we would do the official trade-in the next day or so. BUT, when he came back from driving it, he told me I could just take the new car home right then. Yep, he let me take it without even a down payment! He didn't want to risk our Suburban losing the other half of it's transmission before he could even take it to the car auction, so he didn't want it to be driven anymore.
I didn't know if I was ready to give it up, yet -- especially so suddenly!
I took a while cleaning it out and transferring all it's contents over to the new car.
While stalling for time thoroughly cleaning it out, I discovered something stuck inside and under the middle console. When I pulled it out, it was a boys wallet.

Could it be what I thought it was? I opened it up. Yep, there, inside was $17.00!!!

You see, Ryan's wallet, with his life savings ($17) in it, went missing almost six years ago! It happened right around the time he had his 8 yr. old birthday party. So, when we could never find it anywhere in the house, we naturally assumed that one of those boys who came to his party STOLE IT! So many times over the years, Ryan has wished he had an extra $17. And then we would curse those 8 yr. old boys!

I apologize to all you [now 13 & 14 yr. old] innocent boys who were at that party! All these years, I've wondered which one of you was THE THIEF! At last, you have all regained your reputation, again!

OK, back to leaving the Suburban....
I finally did, and as I drove down the road, I got all teary-eyed.
"DUMB." you say?
This was my DREAM CAR!
"You really don't have very high standards!" you say.

I was first introduced to the Suburban growing up. We had one. It was "two-toned" - they used to all be like that. It was dark blue on the top and the bottom, with a light blue strip running through the middle section...aahhhh....it plowed through those snowy streets, up on the hill, in Bountiful...we called it "THE BURB"...I took my Driver's License test in it...it held a good load of teenagers in it as we went gallivanting around town - and out of town...it pulled our boat..and our trailer...and our trailer with our boat behind it (a 3 "vehicle" train if you can imagine it.)
And that is how my love affair with the Suburban was born.

So, back to my DREAM CAR.

Matt had come from a "BiG Van family", and could not fully appreciated the goodness of a Suburban - at first.
Earlier on in our marriage, when I told him of my plans for a Suburban, he said we did not need one! (with only 2 little boys and all.)
I promised him, "If you get me a Suburban, I will fill it up [with kids]!
Done deal!
We got the Suburban in Feb. 2003.

My intention was to also get it to pull a boat -- our boat.
That never happened. :(
Kids tend to devour up all of one's "Boat Fund."

We called it our "BMW" - Big Mormon Wagon.

We've made many a trips to St. George and Cache Valley in it!

We've had many a kids throw up and pee their pants in it! (And not just my offspring -- other children have also contributed to this cause!) :P

We took it on a road trip to Colorado Springs.
(lots of throw up on that trip!)

We drove it to Boise, Idaho. (Woo, Hoo!)

We may have "taken it the distance" even more, but since I started working at JetBlue, flying has become our preferred method of transportation.

It was the recipient of many a drink spills, crunched up food, stepped on crumbs and "mystery smells" as a result of the aforementioned items spoiling in their hidden places only known to my little ones.

We've been in little fender benders in it - and came away UNSCATHED - it's invincible, I tell ya!

It was "ol' reliable" as we drove it confidently through seven Utah winters.

And we can't forget our encounters with the cops in it!

Our family grew into it...from three children...to four...to five!
I didn't quite fill it to the brim - 6 children would've done that - so, maybe that's why I'm being punished! I didn't keep my promise to the fullest extent.

Since I wasn't expecting to give the Suburban up that day, I didn't come prepared with the camera. (Or a car wash for the "winter grime." Please pardon that.)

Matt went back the next morning to give them the money (a personal check) - yes, they basically let us give them a mere piece of paper with some numbers on it & our signature - and he took these last pictures. Afterwards he called me to tell me it was official -- he'd let her go -- and I cried. Real tears.
I had lost my baby.

*******

We got our new car from Rand's Auto in North Salt Lake. They were so great to work with! We've definitely found us a place to buy our cars EVERY TIME from now on! So, trusting of us! Wonder if we would've just taken off with their new car and left our Suburban forever?!? Without paying - ever? Not a great trade for THEM financially, but they'd still be LUCKY to have our Suburban - they just wouldn't understand WHY like I do!

*******

We got ourselves a Toyota Sienna. They have a much better life expectancy than American-made big, 4WD SUVs. It's an 8 passenger one - with a deep cargo space, in an effort to most closely imitate a Suburban. The kids are THRILLED! I can't believe we're a "minivan family" now! It's just that they're slightly less expensive than Suburbans these days!

Maybe one day, a Suburban will join our family again. I can only dream!