I've fallen in love several times before. Perhaps most deeply with the man I married. Perhaps second-placed deeply with Eddie. Eddie was my jeep. No, not just my jeep. Eddie was my friend, my companion, my symbol of freedom and adventure.
Born in 1987 in a factory wherever jeeps are made, Eddie was a dark blue color, four door Jeep Cherokee with the California plates that have sunsets on them. By the time he became part of my life he had been owned by both my uncle and my brother. His dark blue exterior had been worn down to the color of well-loved blue jeans by the salty air of the Pacific Ocean and he was very clean.
Eddie came into my life at a time when my life was in transition. I had joined he HSU women's rowing team, I had dumped my boyfriend of 2 years and I had just moved in with several girls that I new from the dorms into a house off campus. Sure he smelled like gasoline, sure it took a little coaxing to get up steep hills, but dammit, he was mine. After all, what intense relationship isn't deeply disturbing and flawed?
H-man and I went on several of our beginning dates in Eddie. It was in Eddie that our first child, Francois the French Fry made his home. We spent 6 hours stuck on the Lost Coast (fitting name) waiting for a tow truck in Eddie when he had broken down on the Mendocino Fault when we stopped to look at a bobcat. We took Eddie to Texas to see our friends get married, and then two years later we ourselves were married when we drove Eddie to Las Vegas.
It was soon after this that Eddie became more of a burden than a blessing. He needed constant care, monthly trips to the mechanic. He ate much more gas than he was worth and the back seat no longer folded down to make a spacious backseat for camping. Often I would barely make it home from work with steam pouring out from under Eddie's hood. I had to make the decision to end it.
I posted on craigslist, with pics, ,my beautiful boy, Eddie. Asking price $850 or best offer. Several days later I was trading Eddie for a fistful of cash and a brand new bike. I was now carless.
It has been 2 years since I sold Eddie and people often ask me if I regret getting rid of my car. I always say the same thing: I miss having the convenience of a car whenever I want ( we still have H-man's car but he lives in another part of the state right now) but I don't miss paying for gas, insurance, registration and maintenance. I don't like a lot of the people who ride the bus, but I don't have to drive myself and I get a lot more reading done. I'm much more active than I used to be, since I have to walk to the bus stops and various other location. I miss being able to hop in my car and go wherever, whenever, but I am able to find peace and beauty in my surroundings and am in much better tune with my immediate environment.
I used to see him around, with his new owners. They had replaced one of his doors with a red one. I will never know why. I haven't spotted him in months though and part of me knows that he has passed on to that great parking garage in the sky.
So long old friend.
