Today I said goodbye to a friend.  Well, it was really my vehicle.  But honestly I feel like we’ve been through a lot together.  Today  it was time to say goodbye to the minivan that I called “The Mothership”.

Don’t worry, I’m not crazy.  I know how ridiculous that sounds to be a little emotional about an automobile. But as I was cleaning it out today to trade it in I started to think about all the things that that van has been through.

First of all, I didn’t want it.  I never wanted a minivan.  I was still too young to drive a grocery getter like that.  But it was what made sense for my family at the time.  It had a ton of room for strollers and diaper bags and luggage (if we ever got to take a trip).  So I did it.  I turned in the keys to my SUV to trade into a brand new minivan.

It took a little adjustment to get used to saying that I drove what some people consider the dorkiest of all vehicles.  “I drive a minivan,” I kept saying to myself to get used to how it sounded.  I was still pretty embarrassed about it.  But honestly, I felt a little more like a man for doing what I needed to do to make my family a little more comfortable.

Then we took a trip in it.  We had enough room to fit all of our luggage, our double stroller, diaper bags, toys, coolers AND the kids too!  Wow.  This thing was actually pretty cool.

As the years went on, we ended up doing a lot in that van.  We took it to Canada, Myrtle Beach, we slept  in it at Jam In The Valley.  I tailgated in it, we argued in it, the kids watched movies in it and sang endless hours of Disney songs in it.  My kids went from babies who needed car seats to big kids in it.  It was pecked at by Ostriches and it ran over one rabbit and 2 squirrels.  It made it through 2 years of hauling my DJ equipment around.

It has been through a lot.  And as much as I didn’t want it, I’m going to miss the minivan that we always jokingly called “The Mothership.”

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