Goodbye

Tags

Close To My Heart, good bye, Jeep

I walked away from my Jeep for the last time today.  Even though from the outside it just appears to have a little damage, they tell me the whole front end is crushed underneath.  The insurance company has declared it totaled, and all that is left is determining the payoff.

This is the first car I have ever had that I wasn’t sad to let go of…just relieved.  Relieved that it was totaled, that they weren’t going to patch it back together.  Relieved I wasn’t more seriously injured.  Relieved that I have good insurance coverage.

The body shop guy who helped me clear out my things asked if I was sure I was all right.  “You took a really hard hit, you know,” he said.  Yes, I know.  I know how scared I was, and how after my Jeep stopped moving I just sat and shook from the pain of whacking my head on the window…that and the adrenaline rush.  I know that I’m still sore, and that working was harder today than I expected.  I also know that I was incredibly lucky and it could have been so much worse.

Goodbye, my Jeep.  

Hooray!

Tags

Close To My Heart, Creative Memories, Jeep, Jeep Grand Cherokee, mechanics, Visalia German Automotive

After nearly three months in the shop, my Jeep was finally ready to come back home with me tonight. When last I saw it in the shop yard at Visalia German Automotive, it was absolutely filthy from sitting outside in the weather (with the side window open and a towel thrown across). I am grateful that the mechanic rinsed it off for me, but oh, the inside is so gross. I didn’t have the oomph to clean it out tonight, but I am just so thrilled to have it back.

I thought I had gotten past mourning my Creative Memories business, but when I pulled up outside the shop and caught a glimpse of my rear window with the familiar Creative Memories logo (now extinct and extraneous), I caught myself choking down a small sob. I haven’t removed the logo because it keeps my silver Grand Cherokee from looking exactly like all the other silver Grand Cherokees in the grocery store parking lot. Soon I will order the window signage for my new business with Close To My Heart.

Meanwhile, I will continue reacquainting myself with the bells and whistles of my jeep. Each car I have driven over the past few months has had the gear shift in a different place, the emergency brake with a different configuration, and the gas tank on a different side. I need to return to knowing exactly where everything is, so I can drive on automatic pilot. I appreciate the wonderful friends who shared vehicles with me or helped with my chauffeuring duties. It made all the difference in the world.

Life is back to normal. Hooray!