Scarlett

My 1992 red Toyota Celica has been like part of the family. I've had her since my junior year of high school, but she was not in fact my first car. My dad bought me an old Mercury Capri with a hole in the dashboard. I'm not sure what he was thinking, but out of 30 something cars he owned during his lifetime, it was his biggest regret. The Capri was a lemon and he had to rebuild the engine soon after he bought it. I don't think I even had my license at that point and we had some fun together in the garage getting my car ready.

To sidetrack a bit more, I can't ever remember my Dad taking cars to the shop. He did all the maintenance and major repairs on all of our cars. I remember as a kid always having to help him in the garage holding a light or stepping on the brake. We took field trips in the summer to the junk yard to look for spare parts. I loved running around and searching for 'treasure' in the glove boxes of cars. My mom and I were so spoiled with him as our car man and we felt like big targets for the mechanics after he passed away. I know my anxiety level increases every time I need service.

Anyway, I don't think my parents ever felt comfortable with me driving the Capri, so they did all the research and settled on a Toyota Celica. It happened to be a little red sports car, complete with CD player and sunroof (let me remind you this was 1994). I was ecstatic! The next challenge was teaching me how to drive stick. My Dad tried a few times in the Gar-Field High School parking lot, but my gum chewing, loud cd playing, flip flop wearing teeny-bopper attitude drove him crazy. Luckily, Brian stepped in and was more successful.

I thought Scarlett was a goner in college when I got hit by a Harrisonburg transit bus. Good old cousin Jared happened to be passing through town that weekend, so I drove the roommates (Murphy and Megan) and Jared across town to a party on a cold winter night. We got run off Port Republic Road by the bus and I spent a good part of the evening in the cop car explaining what happened, while Murphy recruited witnesses (i.e. drunk college students walking by). After Scarlett was towed away, we proceeded on with the partying. Of course I was upset and the next morning I had to make the hard phone call to my Dad. Jared begged me not to mention he was in town but I let it slip. Jared didn't want to be associated with the event in any way because he knew there would be lots of teasing, jabs, and sarcasm in his future from my Dad. Scarlett was pretty banged up and my Dad made a special trip to JMU to personally work with all of the insurance and auto body people to get her back to new. He badgered the paint guy and even talked him into painting the whole car instead of just the damaged area...he had a way with car negotiating. Scarlett did end up making a full recovery, and I felt even closer with her since she kept me so safe during the bus incident.

I have held on to Scarlett through thick and thin and even though Dixie (my Mom's Toyota Highlander) is now my primary car, I still LOVE to drive Scarlett. Yeah, I get crap that I have two cars and maybe I just spent $500 to fix the radiator, but I just can't part with her yet!