Not her actual car...maybe Teach can find me a pic of the real one when she gets home from school. |
The actual Drama Queen |
We finally found what we were looking for...a five-year-old white Ford Mustang. It was beautiful! And it was her dream car. We picked it up for a really good price (around $8000) and presented it to her the summer before her senior year. She was so excited! She has always been a grateful child and she couldn't have been happier. The car was SOO fun to drive! Even I looked good in it.
....But it didn't handle all that well in the snow. Drama Queen had a couple of minor accidents in it, but nothing too serious. We just paid for them out of pocket and moved on. Then she graduated and moved to southern Utah for school. She racked up the miles that first semester, coming home almost every weekend. She was SOO homesick! By Christmas she had settled in. (Ironically, after my Sweetie made an ultimatum regarding the right to drive her "Pony" home and how much gasoline cost. Yes...we even paid for her gas for awhile.)
The actual Mustang's death photos.. |
One particularly cold evening, just a day before the family party, she wanted to go see a movie with her friends. I had a bad feeling and I begged her not to go, but she wouldn't listen. I was folding laundry when I got her call. "Mom, I've been in an accident; I don't think the car will go." I panicked, of course, and immediately started pulling on my shoes. "Where are you, are you hurt?" the questions tumbled from my lips. "I think I'm ok," she managed, "and I'm only a couple of intersections from home." It was about that time that the guy she collided with showed up at her car door. I could hear him yelling through the closed window, asking her if she needed help. She had called me seconds after the crash.
I pulled on my coat and handed my sweetie his and we headed out the door. It took us about 2 minutes to get to her. By then the ambulance was there and the passenger of the other car was being transported. The Drama Queen had managed to get out of her car and I threw my arms around her and gave her a big hug. It was pretty apparent that her beautiful little Mustang had not survived. We spoke to the attending police officer and he suggested we gather everything we might want from the vehicle. Even then I'm not sure she really believed that her beloved car was not ever coming home.
There was glass everywhere! Her airbags had been deployed, saving her from serious injury, but her shin had been jammed by the gearshift and by morning her entire lower leg was black and blue. I never saw her tears, but I know I shed some. I was so grateful that she was still with us, but I had no intentions of buying her another car. So she took the only thing we had to offer...the 1988 Corolla we had purchased for practically nothing so we could teach the Dog Walker to drive. She never complained, she just thanked us over and over.
She finished school with that little car and on Saturday she was devastated when her key broke in the ignition. It really has been a good little vehicle for her. Much more practical than the Mustang (although not as cute!) and it handles much better in the snow. Drama Queen is still suspicious about driving too much the week of the Christmas party, but now when I say, "I don't think you should go..." she usually listens. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
7 comments:
poor car.. but so glad your daughter is okay! i'm glad we don't live in the snow or ice anymore but driving down here in Florida is just as dangerous. Thanks for the memories software giveaway too! I'm so happy I won!
Wow, what a blessing that she wasn't hurt badly in this one. I have a few car stories of my own. This was a miracle and I am sure the lesson learned is a blessing.
Thanks for your post today!
Looks like a lovely car - and got her through so much! I'm pretty sure I'm gonna cry when my car eventually goes to that car lot in the sky!
SCARY! I am so scared for my babies to start driving. I know I'll be a nervous wreck. I have 3 years before the oldest is 16. That's not long at all. AHHHHHH!
THankfully, we never got too many of those calls, but I always feared them! Glad she was okay
You know Gym Rat has a much better wreck story.... Did we ever tell the tree-bush story?
Safety — As vehicle safety laws become ever more stringent, automakers are forced to change the way vehicles are built and the safety systems with which they are equipped. Some form of tire pressure monitoring is now mandatory on all vehicles sold in the U.S., and by 2012, stability control will be, too. Other technologies that are not mandated, like blind-spot monitoring systems, side curtain airbags, adaptive cruise control, and brake assist are becoming more prevalent on less expensive vehicles as their associated costs come down.
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