Auto

My daughter was asking me about my first car the other day. In 1986, I had a 1973 Mercury Comet. I bought it for $500, it was the colour of the center line on the road. She was excited by this. Asked me if I knew how sweet it was at the time. It took me back, no I did not. It was an old clunker that gave me freedom and I am today years old to realize I owned a classic. It got me off the subway and on the streets of Toronto. I was not a good driver. I got my one and only speeding ticket the first month I got my liscence.

I took the bus and subway all my teenage life. It took an hour to go to school, with many transfers and changes along the way. It never bothered me. Having a car gave me more time, but really with traffic, not so much. I now had to pay attention. I once hit the curb looking off to the side. I also smashed the passenger side door in making a left turn. Hubby was boyfriend then and in the crash I reached over and pulled him into the center away from the door and the busting glass in the moment. She got an ill fitting door after that, it would randomly swing open when I was driving. Back then, there was one safety done when you purchased a car and you were good to go until the wheels fell off. She was a tank, old cars were thankfully. I went off the road in the winter and smashed a fire hydrant, she kept working. Hubby went off the road into a field, huge ditch, they towed her out, he drove her home.

Start talking about cars, everyone has a story. They are woven into our story. When we started our family, I got a safer car. I realized I didn’t really like to drive and was more than happy to let someone else chauffeur me. I developed an irrational fear of transports and never drove on a highway. Mom brain does that I think, you no longer think about yourself. It’s been quite a few years and driving is peaceful. The irrational has levelled out. Funny how one question brought it all back. I will look today, see if I have a pic of the old gal, she was a classic.