She came to us in 1998 only slightly used. Our boys were two and four and I realize now we raised our family in that car. She was our snowmobile and our beach-mobile. Fate set that role from the very start…
I had taken my father-in-law, Denny, and the boys for a drive on the high-tide line in Corolla, the 4-Runner’s first sensation of sand between her toes. We encamped by a perfect tidal pool, I provisioned the boys with shovels and buckets, and Denny and I turned our attention to Coronas and solving the world’s problems. After some time they appeared excitedly by our side eager to show us their creations.
I was bewildered to find bare sand by the pool. Instead the boys led us to the 4-Runner, its doors wide open. Adorned with seashells, sandcastles rose seat-high filling the rear foot wells. The boys beamed.
Parents will recognize this as one of life’s pivotal moments. A lump rose in my throat. A smile slowly spread across my face and the embodiment of childhood wonder overcame shallow material impulse. I laughed and hugged them tight. After the boys exhausted their narratives, I carefully collected the shells gingerly relocating them to the small pocket console beneath the stereo, and we de-excavated the back seat. Those shells remained in the front console for the next eighteen years.
For not being a car guy, those wheels sure made some memories. Ol’ girl, “Long May You Run.” *
(click on any photo for full-screen)
* Credit to Neil Young (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQhw02fZkkw&nohtml5=False)
