It's the end of an era, you might say. Tonight, Jeremy sold his Escort ZX2. He had it for over 15 years! I remember seeing him drive up my parents driveway in the summer of 1998, just after he had bought it in Ohio. He'd graduated college the December before and had been working almost 6 months. He chose carefully, and bought the car new.
Tonight, when he handed over the title, it had 253,394 miles on it! It was a good little car, and only Jeremy was only stuck with it dead on the side of the road with it twice. (Once was
just a couple months ago right after we bought our new Prius. It was an easy fix after it was towed.)
Even though I never drove it (It's a standard, and I just never learned.), it still has some sentimental memories attached to it for all of us. In fact, Annah said she was sad that Jeremy sold the car, because to her it has always been "Daddy's car."
Several years ago, some of Jeremy's coworker friends teased him about how old it was and how many miles he had on it. They dubbed it "The Sweet ZX2." Truthfully though, because of Jeremy and discussions about this car, several of them learned the lesson of getting maximum value out of a vehicle--as opposed to leasing or constantly buying a new car any time they had an itch.
At one point, I remember Jeremy telling me it must be a "chick car" because he seemed to only see women driving other Zx2's.
I have many memories of times where I followed Jeremy home in another car. The tail lights are very distinctly shaped. And, I often would be at the kitchen sink and see him coming down the dark road at night and would know it was his car even before he turned on the turn signal.
The kids have always thought it was a special privilege to ride in Daddy's car. Maybe they were just glad not to have Mommy along?
As of late, Annah has really loved the privilege of riding in the front seat.
We've had some good times in the ZX2...
We sold the car on Craigslist, to a young man who actually lives in our own little village.
Annah riding in Daddy's car -- July 2003
This also happened in 2003:
Commemorative photo with baby Sylvia on the day of 100,000 miles...
Perhaps it was a little painful seeing that number...?
I am pretty impressed with my husband's ability to have a car for 15 years and 253,394 miles and still have enough life left in it to sell it!
The new owner requested any maintenance records Jeremy has from over the years, and as he was going through files tonight, he found the window sticker!
Goodbye Daddy's Car! It's been fun!
