Not Just A Car
I’ve been meaning to blog more about my car. People don’t seem to understand that Codey was more than just a car to me. Since I was out of college I wasn’t reliant on my Dad anymore, I was financially independent.
When it came time to buy a car to replace Blue, hands down I wanted the Toyota Prius. I’ve been dreaming about this car since I first learned about hybrids. At this point I had been working for about 5 months and managed to save enough money to pay off the insurance violations my mother and I acquired when I was in high school and college. I also had enough for a down payment on the car. Brian and I called up his bank one night and got a loan.
I, of course, was doing all my homework on the Toyota Prius. I knew exactly what I wanted. The time came one Sunday (January 28, 2007, one of the happiest days of my life), Brian and I went to Toyota of Bowie. When our sales guy pulled up in that PRETTY BLUE PRIUS, I instantly fell in love, the first time I saw him. He was so perfect. He was everything I wanted.
The week prior to his death, I had cleaned his window whipers and inflated his tires. I also had bought a new CD of the Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden for the concert we went to that Thursday.
Then that horrible morning came about, November 22, 2008. Woken up, slightly by a car alarm but quickly went back to sleep. Car alarms are nothing new in my neighborhood. The fire marshal woke us up and, well, the car was no more.
He was officially claimed totaled and lost on December 1, 2008.
People are just questioning me why I loved that car so much saying “it was just a car” and “it can be replaced”. It will never just be replaced for me. It was my crowning achievement up to this point. It was my dream come true. It was my symbol of hardwork. My symbol of finally achieving financial independence since it was the first big purchase I made 100% on my own. It was a symbol of my beliefs and morals. A statement of self. It was my independence.
Anyway, to state some news, my insurance company will be contacting me to negotiate on a price for the car. Once that happens, they’ll give me a check which I will pay off the rest of the loan. Then, I guess I’ll buy a new Prius. However, I’ve made the decision to never park the Prius where I am living now. Brian and I are aggressively looking to get the hell out of Germantown forever. We’ll be buying a house hopefully soon. I don’t trust my neighborhood anymore. It used to be a nice, safe place to live.