You buy your first car. It’s perfect! It has 150,000ish miles on it. It goes fast. It has that new-to-you car smell. It’s your new baby. You’re ready to go show it off to all your friends and their families. You can’t seem to imagine that you actually own a car!

You start out by offering to go get the groceries, pick the kids up from school, drive your friends to work, or even pick up food. It doesn’t matter that you have to fill the gas or pay insurance. You have a car. You have the freedom to GO!

After a couple years, you and your car have been to and from so many new life adventures. You have given her pronouns. You have named her Betsy and she has all of the Hello Kitty attire. Your friends now take turns driving to and from. You all complain about the price of gas. To top it off, Betsy is starting to make noises as you need to fix that sway bar and her shocks are getting worn.

What you didn’t realize were all the adventures you have had with Betsy. You drove to Ohio to see A Day To Remember, Illinois for Mayday Parade, Indianapolis for 2 Warped Tours, Ft. Wayne for Shinedown, and a bunch more. You drove your cousins to an awesome day at the zoo and a vacation to the caves. You took off for fall break to see your uncle and his family. There has even been an annual trip to the pumpkin patch. You and Betsy have been through some amazing experiences together!

Sadly, there are those experiences that aren’t so pleasant; the drive to the vet when you found out your 8 year old dog is going blind, the time you spun in a circle on the icy road, the first and third time you got pulled over (thankfully only paying one ticket), or the time you drove to the movies and got in a fight with your best friend. Even harder experiences like getting in your first wreck or driving through three counties to the hospital to say goodbye to your grandpa for the last time.

No matter what life brought your way, Betsy has been there. She now has over 200,000 miles, has a new bumper, her lights are dim, and she eats antifreeze like it comes from a well. Your girl still has that get up and go but you know she is going to lose it soon. You can feel that you are going to have to say goodbye in the near future.

Just like people, cars come and go. They break down and need lifting back up. They wear old and lose their pristine look. If they are worked too hard they start to stutter and act weary. We need to fill them up to keep them from reaching a point of exhaustion or overheating.

It’s easy to get caught up in life. It’s even easier to not realize all the experiences and their worth. Some people worry about the amount of miles travelled or the risk of getting too much mud on the rims. Life is made up of good and bad. It is up to us to take time to look back and reflect. It is up to us to take initiative to look left and right through all of the ups and downs. Don’t be afraid of what’s next or how many miles it may take. Just imagine all of the amazing things we wouldn’t have done if we never drove Betsy from points A to Z. There could be something even better in store for you, but you’ll never know if you don’t take a chance!