Sophia and MPV sitting in a tree....

I have never been very good with irrational behavior. I dont' have much patience or compassion for the like. So when Fia had a TOTAL meltdown when we decided to trade in the van I didn't know what to do. I was beside myself. I didn't understand her attachment to the vehicle. The love affair she was having with the MPV!

"But i was planning to drive it when I turned 16!"

"But this was the van we drove around in when we were babies"

"But this is the only van I have known"

"But Obie likes to put his head out the van window"

yes...that is a love note from Sophia

Yes this was a very good van. We bought it after we adopted Nate....traded in our 1999 white Civic. We needed something bigger not only for our family but for Richard's sister and her family that were visiting that Christmas. It was used and had @30K miles on it. We loved it. It ran great. Everytime I got in and turned the key and it cranked...i gave thanks! The only problem we had was the door handles. They broke off. The driver side was gone for a while. Then this summer the passenger one broke off. At this point the van had 199000 miles. It would cost around $500 to fix both handles. Do we put that money towards a newer vehicle or just fix the van??? What if something else breaks??? These are questions everyone asks when they have an older vehicle....so after much thought we decided to just put that money into something newer.

what do you think Obie? he doesn't care...just as long as he can stick his head out of the window

You would have thought we asked Sophia take all our shots for the rest of our lives! To say she was devastated would be an understatement. The crying and wailing and wailing and sobbing. Good greif. I was understanding during the first hour and then it just go old. FAST. It went on for a couple of days. I was supposed to meet Richard at the dealership and bring the van there to have it appraised but called and said there was no way I would bring her up there. She wouldn't be able to handle it...I wouldn't be able to handle it.

FINALLY...she calmed down. I let her drive it around the cul-de-sac so she could say she had driven it. She made it love notes, stroked it, took items from it as souvenirs(even saved the broken handle) and was able to let go.

lots of good memories!