i'm in love with my car

Queen certainly knows what I mean... they even have a song about it!
It was May 16, 2001, when I first saw her at the Saturn dealership.
I had described the features I wanted to the salesman, a former DJ that my husband knew.
My parameters were: manual transmission, roll-down windows, push-down door locks.
In other words, no automatic anything, thank you very much.
"We actually have one of those," he had replied, leading me to this beautiful blue beast with a smiling fish face.
It was love at first sight!
Everything I had asked for, and she was pretty, too, with sweet lines!
My husband and I drove off the lot around 10 PM, me in my new Saturn SL, my husband in his new Saturn SC3, and amazingly, both vehicles were the same shade of brilliant blue.
These were the first brand-new cars either of us had ever owned.
(His car was totaled within 36 hours by a sleeping-while-driving man. Jeff had walked away from being T-boned without a scratch. He had his second new car within days, but it was a champagne color.)
We had both desperately needed new cars. Both of ours had died for the last time within days of each other. My friend Jan had brought me to the lot and Jeff had been dropped there by a coworker when he got off work at KIX 96.5.
We had to buy at least one car to get home.
Thanks to Mother Pat's GM employees discount, we actually bought cars we could afford.
Thanks to Mama's life insurance, we had the downpayments we needed.
i thank You, God.

Now, my little Saturn is eighteen years old.
We've had so many wonderful adventures in those years, too.
Yesterday, her actual birthday, we stayed home.
I kept meaning to go somewhere with her, but she ended up having the day off.
Today, she was ready to go somewhere, anywhere, just go!
And so we did, staying out all day.
In between "Mary Poppins Returns" at GenerationOne and "John Wick 3: Parabellum" with Kevin, the odometer ticked over to 206800, then kept right on going.
I filled up the gas tank and found she's still getting 33 miles per gallon for in-town trips.
For distance driving, she does a little better, getting 42 mpg.
Both of those are appreciably better than the dealer sticker had listed in 2001.
Good girl!
I am so blessed.
(smile)

As I told folks on facebook, she may look a little rough these days, but she has strengths in all the right places.
i thank You, God.