Listen, I understand there are MUCH bigger problems in the world than having to sell my Jeep, but humor me for a few minutes (or don’t! No one will MAKE you watch this) so I may lament the passing of my Jeep keys into the hands of another man.
There are no other items that exist on this planet that I feel any specific attachments to. None.
As a young girl I remember rubber-necking any time a Jeep Wrangler (or even a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Cherokee) would drive by. I wanted one someday. They look so much different than other cars. They are more vibrant and exciting. They can take you places other cars can’t or shouldn’t.
When one of my high school boyfriends went off to college, while I still had two more years to go before graduation, I went to visit him at Rick’s College in Eastern Idaho. We were sitting on the porch at his apartment. He was on ground level of a 3-story complex. We chatted and cuddled a bit on this ratty couch that sat outside facing the parking lot.
At one point, I spotted a very handsome, tall, dark-haired stranger bound down the concrete and metal staircase almost directly in front of us. He headed for a dark grey Jeep Cherokee and sped off, bumping some tunes. I stared until I couldn’t see the Jeep anymore when he turned around the far side of the complex.
My boyfriend, Chris, mentioned that the Jeep guy was the boyfriend of another girl from the high school we went to.
“Lucky.” I whispered to myself.
Good news and bad news. This world is a small place, so at one point that girl and her family, with this handsome boyfriend in tow, came to the “TCBY” frozen yogurt shop I worked at and I served them delicious frozen treats. She had worked at the same shop up to that point and actually trained me for part of my first day on the job. It was her last day. She was beautiful, with long brown hair and a stunning exotic look. She had just had her wisdom teeth pulled and I remember watching her as she clocked out for the last time that even with swollen cheeks, she was totally stunning.
More good news. A little over two years after spotting him in Rexburg, jumping into his Jeep, we started dating. I’d spotted him at church and tracked him down to ask HIM on a date. After just a few conversations, imagine my delight when I figured out that it was HIM that day, who I’d caught a glimpse of while holding the hand of another fella. Sadly, he no longer had that Jeep. He flipped/continues to flip cars more often than pancakes.
Small world, indeed. He and I were married about 16 months after we’d met. (NOTE: 16 MONTHS?!?!? That is like ETERNITY in the Mormon culture.)
Bad news? Well, this blog isn’t going to be long enough for the bad news, but we’ll fast-forward to present day. Selling my Jeep. That falls under the bad news category.
I miss it. I loved it. It was so much fun to drive, and also a symbol to me of accomplishment because I had worked SO HARD for MANY YEARS to be able to afford my dream car.
It is the only inanimate object I have ever owned that filled me with joy, and having to sell it came at a time where there is already significant unrest in my personal life, which just made it a little more difficult.
More good news…Jeeps are amazing and retain their value so I could sell the Jeep and get a vehicle to fit my soon-to-be family of 4 kids AND have some to spare to catch up on other bills, since I’m a comedian and I can’t really pay the bills with applause, no matter how hard I’ve tried.
So, judge me if you will, it’s JUST a car. It’s JUST a thing, in the grand scheme. But sometimes it feels good to vent so I can move on. This is for me.
And — with any luck some of my projects will finally start paying off so I can buy another one in addition to my minivan. Fingers crossed.
So, here’s a VLOG from the final days of having the Jeep and purchasing its replacement, a Honda Odyssey. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the remote controlled doors, DVD player, and leather seats that hug my rear perfectly are not TERRIBLE.
