RIP My Beloved...

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, I was living a normal, run-of-the-mill life; my boys were in theatre camp (that's a whole separate post), I was looking forward to watching their performance the next day, and everything was going great.



Little did I know that the next day would be literally the DAY FROM HELL.

Yes, that is my Beloved Durango pictured above. Dead. She gave her life for a noble and precious cause, though, keeping my husband and child safe from harm. They walked away from the crash without a scratch. Well, I guess Hubs had an elbow injury but you know what I mean. A crash that bad, that caused that much damage to the front end, just imagine the immense force that impact had. Most crashes where the vehicle experiences that much force upon impact, the damage carries through to the back end and anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the middle gets smushed. But my Beloved stopped the impact before it even reached the drivers seat.

I'm not going to get into the details of how the crash happened or the hoopla that ensued, most of you probably know that already anyways. I just thought I'd put up some pictures for everyone to see my Beloved's last moments.

So now Hubs and I are on the hunt for another vehicle for me, and while I am somewhat excited by the prospect of a new(ish) vehicle, I can't help but grieve for the loss of what was, to me, the most perfect one ever. It was purple! Stylish, strong but sleek and feminine, powerful yet totally responsive. That vehicle was just beautiful to me. One time I was driving down main street here in Sylvan and a crowd of teens were walking up the hill back to school from lunch, and a bunch of guys whistled and hollered to me, "Your vehicle KICKS ASS!" I think I sat a whole foot taller after that, haha.

I could drive that vehicle in any season, any situation, and know that I had total control and was safe and protected. I've driven her in a white-out snowstorm, through intense rain and sleet, on icy city roads and black-ice highways. And while those situations did have me white-knuckled and sweating, I knew that as long as my driving skills were up to the task I'd be fine.

It'll be interesting this next week as Hubs and I go to the various dealerships and test drive the ones we've been looking at online. There's also a few on Kijiji that look good. And the last option, if everything else turns out SOL, is to cross the border and see what we can find there. I just hope it doesn't take too long because as it is now, we just have the one vehicle, and it only seats 5! If we have to go anywhere as an entire family, we'll have to take the motorhome! Could you imagine us pulling up to No Frills to go grocery shopping in the ole' RV and out pile all the kids? Ohgawd, it'd be like the Clampett's came to town or something! *groan*