Mileage

Since today is Christopher’s birthday, I definitely want to wish him a happy day and upcoming year.  But first, here is a note on another birthday of sorts.  My trusty car (can you call it a car when it seats 7?) will hit 200,000 miles today.  It is a 2004 Acura MDX that we bought used a few weeks before Miss Corda was born in 2009.  It was the newest car I had ever owned.  Someone had maintained it perfectly.  There were no scratches, no stains, actually no evidence that anyone had ever driven the thing other than the 69,000 or so miles on the odometer.

Before I got this car, I never had a clicker to unlock the doors.  I thought I had a major malfunction the first time I accidentally turned on the seat warmers, and I jumped out looking for a fire under the car.  I felt pretty cool way up high looking down on the commuters around me.  The car was so quiet and smooth!  

With two boys and a baby girl in the middle and back rows, soon the Cheerios and graham cracker crumbs began to pile up.  Several baseball tournaments in the mud left their mark.  There was that time the lady leaving Sonic was too busy drinking her Route 44 to notice my massive vehicle and bumped into the side of us.  Add another kid, more backpacks and permanent markers, and the Acura is definitely not new anymore.  The charger doesn’t charge my cell phone.  The seat warmers don’t warm.  The A/C doesn’t reach the back row.

It is still the perfect car for me.  I grumbled after needing to dump most of a paycheck into it last week for brakes and various other necessities that I can’t even begin to describe, but that’s what you do when you love and need something and want it to stick around for 200,000 more miles.

Hmmm…sounds a bit like marriage.  Everything starts off new and fancy, and through the day after day grind you invest time and energy so that it will keep on going.  So, on his birthday, while I can’t buy a bunch of fancy presents due to the aforementioned repairs, I do wish my bubbly hubbly the very best day ever.  Here’s to 79 (more) years together.