A Changing of the Guard

I’ve said it before, but Rob and I are weird when it comes to cars, especially selling them. As necessary of an act it is, it always feels too soon and too sad, even if happier things are born from it. For reference, here is my post about selling my Evo.  I miss that car to this day.

So, here we find ourselves, saying goodbye to a companion that we have loved and cared for for almost 4 years. This week, “Blackie” drove away without me in it. We had the good fortune of selling it to a local friend, who I know will enjoy it and have new adventures in it with his family. As he was standing in the garage, I started recounting a verbal inventory of memories to him.

The BMW emblem on the hood was in my stocking my first Christmas with the car. Rob wanted to replace it for me because the other one was chipped, since Blackie was already very “well loved” when she came to be mine. It snowed that year!

The all weather floor mats came the Christmas after. And then the awesome center console (with Bluetooth!!) the Christmas after that. And last summer, new wheels! And all the days in between, she took us places.

We visited Auburn one weekend and Sam wanted to learn how to drive on College Street.

He never figured out what to do.

Or the summer we took the dogs to Savannah, GA on a family vacation. Blackie was our highway warrior for sure. Luggage? Dogs? Both? No problem!!

We roadtripped to Texas one year too to see my Mom, and countless trips to Atlanta, Montgomery, Nashville and everywhere in between to visit friends, go to concerts, and explore our little world in the Southeast.

Blackie was handy when it came to yardwork.

And most weekends, when the weather was nice, Rob and I could be found set up in the driveway, detailing and drinking beer, and talking about life and all that we wanted from it.

Affectionately dubbed our Griswold mobile, I cherished my Christmas Vacation sticker on the back window and felt supreme pride the first Christmas we got to bring our tree home with it perched ontop!!

(seriously, my life at that moment had peaked :D)

But when I remember Blackie (as is the case when I think back on all of the cars we’ve parted with), my thoughts always turn to Rob. How he selflessly clawed his way through a laundry list of weekend projects, upgrades, mods, and repairs to keep me safe and happy every day. And let’s be honest, some of those weekend projects turned into “month projects”.

But Rob told me many years ago to “Dream dreams that are two sizes too big, so that we can grow into them.” So we did, and we still do, and I guess you can say that’s why chapters have to close, so new ones can start. And our new chapter starts with a Sapphire Black 2013 BMW X5 M sport with Cinnamon brown interior, that we bought together this past weekend. It is perfect for me in every way and I’m still in shock that something this nice is mine to drive everyday. 

More importantly though, I am still in awe of how selflessly Rob gives of himself to see my wishes take real form. And I’m grateful beyond measure, for the opportunity to have new adventures and make new memories in our new “Blackie”.

And if I’m being real honest, I’m thankful for the opportunity to drink more beer with my guy in our driveway, as we detail cars and talk about all the life we still want to grab hold of together.

Thanks for all the memories, I’ll cherish them all.