Sandwiched
It’s been about 2 ½ years since I became the owner of a 2007 Mini Cooper S. The “S”, of course, stands for “spectacular.”
It was February of 2017. I had recently told my husband that I couldn’t go through another summer driving our old Dodge Grand Caravan. I was growing my business and didn’t want to show up to see clients in the rusty, dented gray minivan with no air conditioning. And, since my mother had recently moved to Noblesville at the time, we knew it was hard for her to climb into the van with her 4’11” frame.
We agreed we’d start looking for a smaller vehicle for me and purchase it perhaps in April or May. And our oldest son, Jonathon, would inherit the minivan – every 16-year-old’s dream car. (Ha ha!) He was thrilled at the news. Okay, his reaction was more like, “Huh? Um … okay.”
A week later, John interrupted me as I was cleaning one Saturday to show me this cute little blue Mini Cooper he found online. It had low miles, just happened to be in our price range, and was a stick shift. This was my dream car. I remember repeating the phrase “No way!” throughout the morning.
The next thing I knew, we were heading to Carmel to take a look at it. In summary, it was love at first sight. Mind you, I’m not a car girl. My attitude towards vehicles is that if something looks decent and gets me from A to B, I’m happy.
But this zippy little car with its sporty white stripes and sunroof had me hooked. After a few days of adjusting to driving a stick shift – okay, a few days of occasionally stalling the sucker after years of little practice – I was ready to go! I loved opening up the windows and sunroof to enjoy a warm, early spring day. I was in one of my happy places.
I was excited to show it to Mom. I picked her up one day to take her to lunch and was happy to witness how easily she could get in and out of it. And by folding the back seats down, MC (as I call it) could hold her walker, purse, and other needed items. In fact, we recently discovered it could even handle a folded-up wheelchair.
Despite its rather bumpy ride, Mom liked it.
“You know, Mom,” I said, “I really bought this car for you. It was purely for unselfish reasons and had nothing to do with the fact that it’s sporty, a joy to drive, and my dream car.” I’m not sure she bought that, but I still tell her and everyone else that, um, “fact” to this day.
That’s my story, folks, and I’m sticking to it.