IN MEMORIUM: SO LONG PEGGY, THANKS FOR THE RIDE
A few weeks ago, I put one of my closest friends to rest. After a routine break pad inspection, the friendly mechanic decided to look a little deeper at my troubled Dodge Stratus and found that what I thought was a simple engine oil leak had in fact been diverting oil into the coolant, condemning the head gasket, and declaring that my 17 year-old car needs a new engine.
In real people speak, that means I'm f*cked.
I bought this car (in cash) not a year earlier, in the warmth of May. My own money, my own graduation gift to myself--my first car. I named her after my homegirl Peggy Olsen of Mad Men. And despite our short time together, we'd been through a lot. She'd taken me across the country twice. We'd seen five national parks. She'd carried two of my best friends, all of my worldly possessions, a few memories of steamy make outs, and one speeding ticket, for going 91 mph on an 80 mph highway in the middle of Idaho. She was hardworking-- never broke down, not once. She was flawless-- a few blemishes here and there, but no accidents.
Cars are so romanticized in our culture. And until I owned one, I thought it was silly and didn't understand. But during the first big Utah snowstorm, I found myself driving and pleading with Peggy just to make it to our garage, with the promise of a juicy oil change. I conversed with her in my daily driving observations, complained to her with my rabid road rage, scolded her for slamming the door on my hand. In her final hours of driving, the last two songs to play were John Denver's "Country Roads" and Aaron Carter's "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)".
Looking back, it probably wasn't smart to drop $3K on a car with 170,000+ miles from a less-than-reputable auto dealership. Looking back, maybe I would've taken her to get serviced more often, but would it have made a difference? I don't know what I could've done to continue our friendship. But I have no regrets from our journey together.
If you're interested in buying Peggy, you can check out the classified ad here.