I never had a car until after high school. Writers blog
about their first cars all the time, and almost always there’s a comment about
how they tricked it out and gave their friends rides to and from school. I
wasn’t so lucky. I was already married and living in an apartment that was
walking distance from most everything we needed. But we were having our first
baby, so my husband decided we needed a car.
He decided this without talking to me about it.
He decided to buy a big car. Again, without talking to me
about it. I despise big cars.
He thought, “The bigger the better. It’s safer for my family.”
So he drove home a huge, ugly green Chrysler Newport, like the one in this
picture.
Horrified? I was too. I almost cried when I saw it. Driving
it was akin to steering a yacht down the city streets.
As safe as the car probably would be in an accident, it
wasn’t reliable. It started having problems and stalling at inconvenient times
and places. One night it stalled as we were driving to his parents’ house for
dinner. We didn’t have phones with us, so we ended up walking a couple of miles
to their house. With the baby. His dad drove us back to our car and got it
running again.
One day, I took my daughter to a well-baby appointment, and
afterwards, the car wouldn’t start. I was stranded for a couple of hours with a
tired and cranky baby on a hot summer afternoon. My relationship with Mr.
Chrysler was quickly heading downhill.
Later that month, the car stalled in the middle of a busy
intersection. Thank goodness the baby wasn’t with me that time. I had to push
the car to the side of the road while angry drivers honked their horns at me.
That was the day I decided to break up with Ugly Green Chrysler.
I got it running somehow and drove it home. The minute I walked
into the apartment, I called a local junk car dealer and asked him to pick up
the car. For free. “Just take it away,” I told him. He arrived about an hour
later and towed the car. He must have felt sorry for me, because he paid me $50
for that hiedeous hunk of steel.
It was the best impulse decision I ever made.
That ugly old car probably got parted out to many different
people restoring their classic Chryslers. Maybe pieces of it ended up in this
beauty.
My personal horror story prompted me to give the heroine in
my book a cute car. A Volkswagen Jetta. The local car mechanic is a friend of
hers, and he helps her trick it out. Here’s how I picture Mariah’s car.
Cute, right? I won’t tell you what happens to it, because
that would spoil my story, Shades of the
Future. You can download a sample of the book at my Amazon Author Page.
During the month of July to celebrate the book launch, I’m giving away a pair
of designer sunglasses to one commenter on one of my blog posts.
In the meantime, do you want to share? Whatever happened to
your first car?
About Suzanne LillySuzanne Lilly is a writer at night and a teacher by day, which is why she’s known online as the TeacherWriter. Her articles and stories have appeared in numerous places online and in print. She writes contemporary young adult romance and middle grade novels. When not busy with words, she enjoys swimming, hiking, reading, fine arts, and cooking. She lives in California with her family and furry friends and has yet to feel an earthquake. You can follow her on Twitter as @suzannelilly, visit her TeacherWriter blog, at her Suzanne Lilly Author website, or friend her on Goodreads, and on Facebook.
Her debut novel, Shades of the Future, published by Turquoise Morning Press, is available July 2012. What would you do if you could see your future? What you think is “the gift” may actually be a curse.
