A Tale of Two Cars

I’ve been driving cars since shortly after I got my permit at age 15. I bought my first car from my parents at age 18. I bought my second car about a year ago now when I was 21. Cars have always been my primary mode of transportation between errands with my mom, trips to my grandparents, and family road trips. So, find joy in the journey down the road. 

My first car was actually my parents’ car first. It was a 1998 Saturn SL1. They bought it used from a Saturn dealer when I was about 9 or 10. We took trips to grandparents but its notable adventures were getting back and forth from camps during the summer. It was almost funny how simple it was. Even though it ran fine, had an automatic transmission, heat, and radio, after I bought it all my friends thought it was funny that it didn’t have a CD player, and the window was crank operated and that the doors were manual lock. I really enjoyed driving this car though, between rides with friends at university around town, to taking it to a park to meet a friend from camp across town. My favorite memory from the car might be the namesake of #louisthesaturn though. My best friend and I dressed up as Mario and Luigi for one Halloween, we shortly realized we were driving the same type of car in colors that matched us that Halloween, I was green for Luigi because I’m taller, she was Mario for the opposite reason. Later on when I became the sole owner of the car the name became Louis (pronounced lewee), because her Saturn was sold, and I’m not actually much of a nintendo gamer.

I continued to really like my SL1, I think I would still have it if it weren’t for my old auto shop not telling me something was going wrong with it. It started overheating one day, and when I took it in they told me it was better to junk it at that point. I was sad, and concerned – I hadn’t wanted to buy anything fancier, it the case of a car it usually means there’s less to go wrong. I was also scarred at the time because I needed a vehicle and didn’t have much money. #louisthe1998saturnsl1

I started searching online, and became a bit more concerned but then I found a 2008 Chevrolet Aveo LT with hardly any miles in a beautiful orange color, at a terrific price. I did as much research as I could on the vehicle and then me and my parents made the trek across town in their car to take a test drive, we couldn’t find a reason for me to not get it. A year later and the only issue has been needing new tires for the snow because the care came from the south. It’s funny, the second I saw the cars listing online I had a name: Nemo. I’m a Disney fan and it seemed fitting. Now I’ve been driving #nemotheaveo for a year. and we’ve already been to a second state together, camp, numerous jobs, and hopefully soon, across the country! Louis gave me an appreciation for many of the nicer features that came with Nemo, and probably every other car I’ll ever buy, so I’ll always be thankful for my first car for that reason as well. 

God truly provided in a ridiculously practical way with both cars.

Now its probably weird to think of cars, especially relatively cheap ones, as meaningful, but I found a lot of joy and ownership in them, especially since I still live with my parents so I don’t have my own living space yet.  Cars for me have been a good tool and something that I try to take care of while utilizing to the full extent. My experience with cars shows to a certain extent that you don’t need the best or fanciest of something to get nearly everything you need out of it. I thank the Lord he has provided the vehicles I’ve needed, and although I hope to fly far more in the future, I also look forward to car trips in the future with my #nemothe2008chevroletaveo .