About a week into the semester I got a call from one of my parents saying that our minivan had died. We got that Toyota Sienna back when the Toyota Sienna was the hip new minivan for moms to drive. I remember my brothers and I being there with my mom at the Toyota dealer to buy it and legitimately thinking that we were the coolest family in the world to have this new 2008 minivan. Flash forward 10 years and it was a routine drive down Route Two that our minivan took its last exhaust.

As I think about it, the passing of our minivan really is equivalent to the passing of my brothers and I's childhood lives. It was determined that we really no longer have the need for a minivan anymore because now there are only a small handful of times when the whole fam is actually together in the car and we need the space. Our new car is only a five-seater and guess which kid has to always sit in the hump?!

Looking back, our minivan brought us to thousands of hockey, softball, baseball, and field hockey games. It pulled off having I believe a max of 6 gross full hockey bags in its back seat at once. It fit hundreds of dollars worth of family groceries. It braved the worst MA winters. It got rear-ended once or twice. It went on college visits and brought us and all of our stuff to our colleges. It made countless drives to and from our grandparent's house. It survived 3 kids learning how to drive (I think it was a close call with my driving!). And, there is definitely so much more.

As I grew up, especially in high school, I began to resent our minivan and I wished that we had a "cooler car". But now I realize with a minivan is the memories, so many quality family hours happened within its seats. I think that the passing of a minivan means the coming of a new era for every family, and as I am excited for this new time for my family with my brothers and I truly being young adults, I can't help but acknowledge the fact that I will miss our old beat up 2008 Toyota Sienna.