The saga of a minivan

If you are a mini-van in our household you have probably led a long and interesting life. We have always had a van, as long as we have been a family in fact. We had vans back when they were just vans, and the only thing mini was skirts. But that's a 70's story for another time.

This particular van was the only one we ever bought right off the lot, brand spanking new. It was our pride and joy for many years - a Cadillac of that decade. We buckled our babies into its built-in baby seats ( a brilliant 90's invention in my opinion) and off we would go. It was the van that was so full of children that we often didn't notice if one was missing and left them at church or school on more than one occasion. And we were very happy to have her.

After awhile and many messy years later she had lost some of her luster. So about the time our teen passed her driver's test we decided to upgrade. And now daughter had her very own vehicle to drive. Maybe not as stylin as some of her peers, but safely carrying her and the little sibs around town. The ever-so-slight dent in the back hatch is there to prove she can hold her own when rear-ended by a pickup truck. And daughter was mostly happy to have her.

Good to his word, she got passed down again when said daughter reached her senior year in college and Daddy got her a real car. The 2 offices at our company needed a courier car for exchanging paperwork and so she had a new purpose once again. And the office ladies were very happy to have her.

She got loaned out now and then to car-needy friends and got to travel at full speed occasionally on the highway. She was also loaned out to carry kids on various field trips and other outings. We didn't let her go out of state and she wasn't much to look at anymore, but our friends were very happy to have her.

But recently we discovered a crack in the head. They patched it over to keep her going. Then the the rust on her roof gave way to a bad leak and the inside really began to deteriorate. Now the office ladies were turning up their nose at her and hubby said it was finally time for her to be "scrapped out".

I didn't see her for a couple days until this morning. One of the crew leaders was behind the wheel and the next thing I know the side door opens, carpet has been ripped out and 10 mud-covered feet pile into the side door of the old minivan and head out into the canyard. And they are happy to have her.