In the fall of 1996, a new member was added to our little family of four. Our brand new Pymouth Voyager minivan was the answer to a stressed out mother's prayers. So, as we drove our newest family member home for the first time, my husband and I rejoiced. You see, our two children would each have their very own bench seat. No more fussing about someone sitting to close to the other person. Wonderful! In addition, as opposed to our other minivan which only had one back door, the new minivan had a back sliding door on BOTH sides. No more arguing and fighting over who was going to get out first! Brittany was assigned the door on the left side, since she was a lefty. Mathew was assigned the door on the right side. Ahhhh, how nice and pleasant travelling was once again. However, this peace was short-lived. Within a month of purchasing our new vehicle, we discovered that yet another addition to the family was on the way! Though joyous over the news of another little Denny being born into the clan, I knew that this would upset the balance of peace that had finally been achieved within the minivan. Oh, what to do?
Our Plymouth Voyager has been with us through thick and thin. In fact, I was involved in a head on collision when 6 months pregnant with Michael. I can never forget the image of the hood of the van completely flying off, up and over my head. I learned later that this was a designed safety feature. And miraculousy, the air bag did not deploy. Yes, I said that is was a miracle the driver's airbag did not deploy. I was told had it deployed, then I most likely would have lost the baby. God certainly protected little Brittany, little unborn Michael, and I within the confines of our lovely minivan. I guess that is why instead of totalling it, which many people suggested should be done, we decided to have it repaired.
Our Plymouth Voyager not only protected us, but was part of many special memories of our young family. It was the vehicle that transported our third child home after he was born. We also took our trusted minivan on so many road trips - vacations, holiday trips, & family visits. Oh the memories of lost french fries and spilled coke! Our trusted minivan has also hauled many a basketball team, soccer team, and cross country team.
One of our family's favorite memories occurred in the minivan. It was the Christmas of 1996. We had Christmas Eve dinner with Granny and Granddaddy. After dinner, we loaded up the minivan to travel back to our home to settle down for Santa's visit. Our oldest son, Mathew, decided that he was bored all by himself on his bench seat in the back and began to aggravate his sister. His reign of torture on Brittany began as soon as we began backing out of Granny & Granddaddy's driveway. Scott had threatened Mathew several times before we even got out of their neighborhood. By the time we were on Highway 90, Mathew was on thin ice, in fact, his ice was thawed and his goose was about to be cooked! He aggravated Brittany one time too many. Scott pulled over, got out of the van, entered the back of the van, and spanked Mathew. I felt like I was in the car scene from The Christmas Story. There was wailing and knashing of teeth. Then Scott calmly got back out and climbed back into the driver's seat. Then - we - saw -IT! A GIANT, NEON, SIGN flashing - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!" We were parked right in front of Pace Assembly's Christmas Display! Scott had spanked Mathew underneath the warm glow of this sign of good will! Though still sniffling from his spanking, Mathew joined the rest of us as we laughed over the irony of the situation.
Yes, our minivan gave us many wonderful memories. It also has transported us from harms way during hurricane evacutations and it has weathered the worst of storms and survived with nothing more than some scratches. I watched as hurricane Dennis lifted up the minivan off the ground repetitively with it's strong winds. Yet our faithful minivan was ready to transport us home from the shelter when it was over.
But after 12+ faithful years of service, our tired Plymouth Voyager just couldn't go another mile. It tried it's best one day to get Scott home one last time. It's engine completely stopped about halfway up our street, just around the bend. Though it's engine had quit, our trusted minivan had enough heart to get Scott and Michael home...it coasted all the way down the street into our driveway.
We thought about repairing our trusted minivan, but realized that it's reliability has ended. We tried to trade it in for Cash for Clunkers, but it was rejected. We tried to sell it, cheap. But no one wanted it. We tried to give it away to relatives who knew someone who might fix it cheap, but they couldn't transport it back to their home 200 miles away. We considered donating it to charity to help someone in need, but the repair work is more than the vehicle is worth. So it has sat in our driveway, it's final resting place, since last summer.
So, this weekend, we have determined it's fate. We have decided to sell it for salvage...a whopping $60.
No cash for this beloved clunker!
In His Love, Cathy
