Going to college means leaving a lot of things behind. Home cooked meals, family pets, and queen-sized beds are just some of the few. But you, high school car, are one of the things I miss the most. We’ve been through a lot together: high school football games, endless late-night trips through the drive-thru, and countless circles around the neighborhood when we didn’t have anywhere to go.
If you were one of the lucky ones, you came home on your 16th birthday to a brand-new, shiny set of wheels with a giant red bow wrapped about the hood. Everyone ooo-ed and awww-ed as you drove it into your high school parking lot. In this aspect, I wasn’t so lucky. My 2003 CR-V didn’t exactly leave my classmates jaws on the floor when I sped home after school. However, my car did mean a lot to me. As a hand-me-down, the 80,000 miles that were already packed into it carried their own memories. As a kid, I remember belting out Gwen Stefani songs in the back seat. I remember laughing along with my cousins as my aunt drove us around. Even if it wasn’t one of the newer models like my friends were driving, it still meant a lot.
This car now carries my own memories. It tolerated my friends and I blasting our music too loud while hanging out the windows (and sunroof). It stored the McDonald's French fries that wound up under the passenger seat or the wrappers from the endless 79 cent ice cream cones. In the back seats, you can see blue and red paint stains leftover from some last minute face paint touchups on the way to highschool football games. It also carried some less fortunate characteristics with it. The mystery dent that I found at the end of one school day, an obvious aftermath of a hit and run. The never-cleanable stickiness of the cup holders left from endless soft drink spills. The salt stained floor mats after a few too many winter boots stepping on them. Even so, this car symbolized the freedom of a high school kid. It gave my sister and I the ability to go wherever we wanted. The unspoken "ok" and that our parents trusted us.
After a year away at school, I decided it was time for my car to take on the college life with me. I couldn’t wait to take it down I-80 going way too fast. To be able to go wherever I wanted to without bribing someone to take me there. To bring home as much laundry as I needed on any given weekend. However, this was short-lived. After a few too many flat tires and one too many break-downs in the McDonald’s drive-thru (shout out to the manager with jumper cables!), it was time to take the CR-V back to where he belonged.
Some things are meant to stay at home. Just like not being able to take your mom up to college with you whenever you need your room cleaned, or your dad whenever the TV stops working, my high school car wasn’t set out for the college life. He is just one more thing I look forward to on my infrequent visits home.
