I was in a car accident on Kalanianaole Highway over the weekend and my 2000 Honda Civic, which I’ve had for 11 years, was totaled.
And I’m not as upset about my neck pain, back ache or probable increase in my insurance payments as I am about losing my car.
Here’s the story: I’ve had more cars than boyfriends. And no matter how much I tried to get rid of this Honda, it stuck. For 11 years.
I reluctantly bought this car, used, after driving around a massive Nissan Xterra. The first thing I did before driving it off the lot was flip down the visor to check the mirror. And there she was, a photo sticker of some woman I decided to name Carmelita.
And she has been my angel car ever since.
I have left the car keys on the roof of this car for hours in the Honolulu Zoo parking lot on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve had the best parking karma with her. And up until this weekend, I hadn’t been in an accident.
This car — as much as I wanted to sell it and get something better, roomier, with four doors — was a huge part of my life. And it was, strange to say, sad to see her hauled off by a tow truck.
I almost cried, actually.
Who would think cars could have this kind of affect on people. But this car did to me. She took me surfing every morning, around the island dozens of times, to hiking trails, homes, hospitals, jobs. She was part of my life in every way — and now she’s sitting in some dusty tow yard, alone and empty.
It breaks my heart.
But the thing that gets me is this: that car protected me, especially that night. I walked away with minor pain in my neck and back — but that’s it. Otherwise, I’m fine, healthy, with my sense of humor in tact. But the car was destroyed.
So this is my little ode to Carmelita, now probably an organ donor of sorts, her parts hopefully helping other cars live on. She was the best car I ever had, and I will miss her dearly.
Am I crazy or do you have a special relationship with your car, too?
***
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25 Comments
so sorry about your accident and wish you the best.
Thanks! Appreciate it! 🙂
Glad to hear that you’re OK and I’m glad that she was there to look after you. I have several cars and as much as I think I love them when I step back and think about it, it’s really the memories surrounding the car.
We have this little Suzuki that we call “The Little Silver Car” that we bought for my son when he started UH and now my daughter (currently at UH) drives it. For a long time it was the only car we had in HI and we used the heck out of it. I still think of it fondly and out of all of the cars we have it is very close to my favorite.
It’s always the car that’s reliable (and fuel efficient) that you miss the most 🙂
I had a similar experience on October 21st. My lower back and one of my thumbs still hurt a little, but they don’t stop me from doing anything I want or need to do. After saving me from serious injury, my 6-year-old MINI Cooper survived and has been repaired. I like this car, but I never really loved it.
Ah, I will always have a special place in my heart for my first…(*long sigh and wistful look in his eyes*)…car that is. It was a Subaru GL hatchback that I bought used and was all that I could afford at the time. Actually, I couldn’t even afford it and needed a bank loan and help from my parents. My little beige Subaru was sometimes mistaken by others for a Chevy Chevette (ugh). I have had many new and used cars since then, but none has been one with me as my Subaru was. My wife entered the picture, disliked my Subaru, eventually prevailed on me to trade it in, and then became my ex-wife. I miss that car more than I do her. Ah, youth…
Oh, that first car! Mine was a Toyota Corolla — also a victim of a highway accident. I’ve never had a new car, though. Wonder if I’d bond with that one.
Hello Cat!
Cars can be replaced, I happy that you are okay.
Aw, thanks! I feel good today! We’ll see about 10 years from now!
I wish I still had my Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. She was a casualty in a rather nasty divorce, in many ways still nasty. I may never own another one and that to me is a travesty. She literally went anywhere and everywhere she was asked. It seemed to me to relish what felt like vertical climbs, deep sand, bumper deep mud, and other things outdoor people can’t resist. Every other vehicle seemed inadequate by comparison. She had a fabulous air conditioning system. The heater would melt you making it easy to leave the top down when it was in the 50s. But by far and away the best thing about her were the seats. I’ve had Mercedes that didn’t have as nice of a place to park your okole. My son and I used to go places that would blow you mind. Others would be off in the distance and the thought crossed my mind they were envious what Ruby could do.
The new Rubicon sports a vastly improved V6, transmission, and interior. It is bigger, never an issue to me but can see how it would take the fear of rolling it away. Imagine being able to climb out at a 45 degree angle and descend the same way. The damn thing is a beast. We went places only a Range Rover could follow. People have told me if I loved the old Ruby the new one would blow me away.
Some days I miss my Ruby as much as I miss Honolulu. The day will come when I have them both. And I can’t wait for that day. My son seconds that motion, coming home in a new Ruby is a shared dream.
If you miss Ruby almost as much as you miss Honolulu, that’s love. 🙂
And hopefully in February I will come over to visit the company I founded and ride a ‘few choice waves’ badly. My fingers are past being crossed.
I’m car illiterate. I’ve had a 93 Toyota Paseo since……….1993. 130,000 miles. Time to upgrade, I won’t miss it.
Woot! I clocked 156,000 miles on my Honda. I used to think I wanted to upgrade it, until I thought about how much I’d have to pay for a new one. I will miss not paying monthly payments!
Sorry to hear of your accident. Glad you are ok, Sorry about your car as well. I have felt the same about a vehicle.
Thanks for your well wishes! 🙂
Hey Cat … I’m happy it wasn’t more serious for you … well, except for your car …
… I think we all attach emotion towards an inanimate object at some time or another … and I don’t think it’s crazy at all …
… as for me and my car … well, let’s just say I don’t know why she stays with me … because sometimes I treat her so bad …
… but it wasn’t always like that … at first, I treated her like the princess she was … cleaned and polished her every week … bought her nice accessories … made sure she was the prettiest car on my street …
… but lately I’ve neglected her … there’s cracks in her plastic trim … her paint has dulled … I’ve allowed her to get nicked and dinged and scraped by other cars … I leave her out in the hot sun and drenching rain unprotected … I drive her through puddles and mud and rotting fruit … I’ve dropped chips and peanuts and fries on her … I’ve spilled a whole Double Big Gulp on her … my friends dog even pee’d and pooped on her …
… she’s seen the happy times, the fun times, the scary times and even fights and arguments …
… yet through it all, she’s still always there for me …
Hmm. I can’t say I spoiled my car… In fact, I probably treated her pretty badly. Next one, I’ll be good, promise. 🙂
“I’ve had more cars than boyfriends”…..love that line.
Glad to hear you’re ok, well sort of. I had the same feeling with a ’64 Volkswagon van. That car took me everywhere and survived several “roll-overs”, according to the previuos owner. I was at a gas station once and he pulled over and gave me a little history about “Patches”.
He bought her in Germany when he was in the army and had gotten into several accidents with her thus the nick-name Patches. While I never got in an accident myself I had a few close calls and a blown engine. But the car was a survivor….until it was totalled in an accident while my dad was driving to work one morning. I remember seeing Patches in the junkyard a couple of days after while salvaging some of my belongings. Patches would not roll on the roads any longer, her parts being doled out to total strangers. Maybe she lives on in various VW vans around the country, maybe not.
damn, sorry to hear! happy you are ok though!!
Glad you’re OK. This reminds me again why I look at things like crash test results when deciding what car to buy.
“Am I crazy or do you have a special relationship with your car, too?”
You realize, of course, that these are two separate questions.
Totally have a relationship with my car… My parents bought it for me after I graduated college in 2004… At the time I didn’t even have my license, but the pact with my parents was that I would get my license by learning to drive on this new car… so all the while, I washed, polished, and obsessed over this car, even though, legally I couldn’t drive it… I got my permit, and started learning, and then as the car was less than 2 months old, I drove it off the side of the road and into a drainage culvert, and literally tore through the sidewall of my front passenger tire… for most people, it’d be fine just putting the spare on, and getting a new tire and move on… but for me, as a still learning novice, it was an incredibly traumatic experience, so it caused me to stop wanting to learn to drive… So there she sat, in the garage, dad would take her out every other day, to make sure she kept in good running order, and I still washed, polished and shined her up… Then 3 and a half years later, in the winter of 2008, my dad got sick, and it hit me that I needed to put my foot down and start learning how to drive… I finally got my license in December of 2008, and have been driving my Corolla ever since. Like I said, we got her new in 2004, and dad had put about 60k miles on her in about 3 and a half years of driving, and now we’re at about 110K because she takes me everywhere… and yes… I’m still washing, polishing, shining and obsessing over that little blue corolla… she’s a little more dinged up now, but she’s my old faithful… and I love her…
Wow!! Just wow!! So glad to hear that the Cat is okay, and that she didn’t cash in all of her 9 lives.
In all seriousness, glad you’re okay. Go and see a doctor, even if you feel okay. The way I see it, it’s like going to the gym after a long break. You never feel anything the first day you go back. You feel it (the pain) a day or so later.
Sorry to hear about the car, although honestly, I’ll admit being a little surprised that you (a female) would have those kinds of feelings. I’ve always been under the impression that it was a stereotypical guy thing, to have attachments and feelings for cars. Anyway, I don’t think it’s crazy to have a “special relationship” with a car or anything else. I’ve known guys who’ve had feelings for their cars, trucks, bicycles, etc. I know, I’m one of them. 😉
You want to see an example of relationships? Check this Youtube video out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-nO6WvOYw
Had a bad car accident once.
Best thing I did was treat with acupuncture.
Loosened up the muscles and joints and got the nerves jangling just right.
Meanwhile, here’s an ode to Carmelita you’d enjoy:
I hear Mariachi static on my radio
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I’m there with her in Ensenada
And I’m here in Echo Park
Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I’m sinking down
And I’m all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
“Carmelita,” Warren Zevon
If Carmelita the car can’t take you around anymore,
there’s a C song that will keep buzzing around in your head.
Take care.
If that is a picture of the damaged car, it does not look totaled IMHO, even if 11 yrs old.
yikes! so glad you are okay!