Parting Ways With My Ford Contour
I've had my '95 Ford Contour since junior year of high school and she's served me well through the college years in Colorado, the two years back in Rochester, and the last year or so in D.C.
We've been through trials and tribulations: clipped the
first day I owned her, smashed rear bumper, broken thermostat, bald winter
tires in the Colorado summer, overheating, swearing, sleeping in the front
seats while ski bumming, lots of dead batteries, breaking the 100,000 mark just
outside of Omaha, more overheating and swearing, a broken side mirror, and most
recently a blown head gasket.
She's seen both coasts of this country and everywhere in
between. She's never been the fastest or the most luxurious but she's always
been there for me.
My family and friends have been telling me as far back as six
years ago that I should trade her in but I didn't. Perhaps the most vocal was
my late grandmother, who I think actually had a soft spot in her heart for the
'ol girl (holding on to the car was my humble and thrifty defiance and she had
those characteristics too) but even she turned the corner. But I still held on.
After telling myself many times that this last repair was the final straw, the day of reckoning has come. Having planned on donating her for some time (even I knew she would die eventually), I'm donating her to my local NPR station here in D.C., WAMU.
I was never in love with the Contour but she was the only car I’ve ever known. It was her personality, and what she represented to me, that I clung too, not her performance, looks or speed (which she had none of). I’ve had a lot of great memories with the Contour and will miss her dearly.
Currently Playing: Johnny Cash - One Piece at a Time
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