Every year I have spent with Steven has been marked by an annual road trip to somewhere. We have logged tens of thousands of miles in our teeny little 2004 Honda Civic. We have driven through Washington D.C. in the midst of a blizzard, holding our breath as our little car chugged along like a champ, despite the lack of visible lanes on the interstate. We have camped out overnight with homeless people in the boonies of Ohio, sharing their swampy river coffee in the morning (didn’t know the water was from the creek behind us at the time). On a whim, we have traveled overnight to Philadelphia and Annapolis, just because we hadn’t been. Our car has taken us to Maryland, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Arkansas, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, West Virginia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and more. I love my time worn car, so the more I thought about having to give it up when we had Finley, the more sad I became.
My little Honda Civic isn’t much to look at. I bought it from a friend of Steven’s in the Navy who was moving to Italy and needed it off her hands. She had taken immaculate care of it, and even after 5 years of use, it still looked brand new. It was my first big purchase, and I had to borrow money from my sister to make it. I was so proud of my new and practical vehicle. At the time, it blended in easily with the other vehicles on the road, but over time, I have started to slowly become aware that the other vehicles around me look decidedly newer, bigger, flashier. Occasionally, I pull up to the beautiful vehicles of clients and sheepishly step out of my dingy gray Civic with the wonky fuel door. The thought has crossed my mind on several occasions that perhaps I should look into an upgrade. And so, after 8.5 years of marriage, 165,000 miles and 3 kids, have I finally found it in my heart to relinquish my little car with all of its scrapes and bruises and memories?
Of course not.
That is why this past week, my family and I once again squeezed into my little Honda like clowns into a clown car. BTW, you too can manage this feat of frugality with the purchase of certain Britax, Chicco and Diono car seats. Did we notice the stares from all the rationally-minded people out there that thought we were either insane or super poor? Multiple times. Did we start to lose a front bumper and have to stop mid-trip to tie it back on with shoelaces from Steven’s chucks? Maybe. Was there toddler puke? Of course. Did we turn a 3 hour leg of the trip into a 6 hour one? You betcha. Did the memories made with family make it all worth it? Absolutely.
Christina Freeman is a family photographer in Anna, TX. She loves photographing other families, babies and children in Collin County including Melissa, Van Alstyne, McKinney, Plano, Princeton, Farmersville, Prosper, Frisco, Wylie, Celina, Little Elm and other Dallas suburbs. Contact her to get a conversation started today!