Ode to the ’93 Accord

Well, a couple days ago we bid adieu to the green ’93 Accord.  It had been on the market for a while and we received what I considered to be a surprising number of offers.  We finally found one that suited us and sold it to the five-kid family of a simulator instructor whose two older daughters are getting their driver’s licenses this summer.  It was nice to sell it to someone excited to have it.  For a while we thought we might to sell it to someone who just buys Hondas to turn around and sell them.  When Caleb got off the phone with the buyer and told me he sold it, I cried silently for a few minutes and thought about my silly sentimental attachment to the little green lump of metal. 

I remember when it belonged to my aunt and uncle and cousins in North Dakota and going for rides with new drivers Ann and Jane when we came to visit.  I remember Jane doing this:

inscribing the name of her favorite band in the fabric of the seat back.  When my family purchased it several years later, I would write “Avalon” and Paul would write “P.O.D.”(they were this Christian rap/metal-ish band).  

I remember buying it from the North Dakotans and driving across Montana with my mom, singing oldies along with the radio and thinking it was the most beautiful piece of luxurious machinery I had ever seen.

Several years later, my brother and I both learned how to drive in it.  Here I am after passing my driver’s license test in it:

In those years the ’93 Accord was mainly my mom’s car and I didn’t drive it much, until I was permitted to take it to Hillsdale in the fall of 2008.  There I occasionally cursed it for its inferior antenna and reluctance to start in the Michigan winter, but I took on a new pride of ownership when my parents gifted it to me for my college graduation.

Fast forward another couple years: the Accord met Caleb, who also had a green Accord.  Little newer, little darker than mine.  We both meticulously cleaned our green Accords in the days of first dates and picking up Caleb from the airport. 

I think November 20th, 2010 was the Accord’s most glorious moment: it served as the “getaway car” after our wedding, and was displayed as such via Christmas card photos that year:

Not one week ago, the Accord rolled over 200,000 miles as Caleb drove home from Nashville, returning from house-hunting in our next home, California.

I've learned all about checking the oil, flat tires, dead batteries, running out of gas and getting pulled over, but ultimately I’ve learned what it’s like to have a great, reliable vehicle.  We've been through a lot of changes together, and shared a million other memories in addition to the ones detailed above, like driving with my cousin Kate across Wyoming after my brother died, singing our favorite hymns and Christmas carols.  

Anyway, we love you, little green Honda, and we hope you like your new family.