Thursday 13 (On Friday): Automobiles

With the purchase of a new car - that I have not yet driven - I consider 13 cars I have driven. Whether for years or minutes. Some of those cars, I can describe to a tee. Others, I barely remember. Never a Bentley. But also never a Yugo. I don't think I've driven anything that predates the 1980s. Nor any car made after 2006. I've driven friends' cars. And families' cars. I even tried stick shift once with Uncle Mark. Suffice it to say, I don't drive stick.

And so, in no particular order, I present the cars of my life...

1. I remember neither the make nor the model of the first car I drove. I do remember that it was an early 80s box car, that is it looked like a box. And it was a very unassuming tan. That car with automatic transmission was the car with which I learned to drive in driver's education. I remember taking the test in that car. And getting one minor demerit (not enough from keeping me from my license) for going over the railroad tracks too fast.
2. Silver 1984 Toyota Celica GT Hatchback with power doors, power windows, and a moon roof. Purchased that car for a buck from my Uncle Tom. Lasted me 4 years in high school. And then lasted my brother 3 additional years. I didn't actually fit in the car unless I opened the moon roof, which I did many a cold November night driving football teammates home from practice. Had an engine that didn't quit and a body that was rusting out from under me. Great car.
3. I know I drove at least one of the old man's many AstroVans. Medi-Ray's car of choice, I have many more memories in the passenger seats of those vans than in the driver's.
4. Light blue 1990 Mazda Protege. Given as a gift by my paternal grandparents, the Protege didn't have a lot of the fixins, but it did get me where I needed to go for quite a few years.
5. Green Honda CRV from the late 90s or early 00s. My stepmother's leased car was compact and easy to handle. I still like the look of the CRV and Rav 4.
6. Moving trucks. Whether from Delaware back to Connecticut or from our apartment on 12th Ave S to the house in which we now live, I've driven my fair share of U-Haul like trucks.
7. White 1987 Buick LeSabre. Memere's car for the longest time, I drove this car a few times back and forth to the seminary.
8. An Acura - I want to say Integra, though I can't remember. A seminarian named Ryan lent me his car to drive back to Connecticut for Jared's mother's wake and funeral. I remember being introduced to Andrea Bocelli on that trip (the only CD he had in the car).
9. An old blue boxish Volvo. I remember driving Cliff's car to various places in Boston and the surrounding area to fulfill my responsibilities for teaching catechism and ministering to prison inmates.
10. A champagne-colored Cadillac Deville. Fr. Gunnoud's car rode like a dream. And he let me drive everywhere.
11. A blue late 90s Chevy Cavalier that I drove while at Incarnation in Wethersfield. Plain but effective for that summer 'intership'.
12. Silver 1996 Mitsubishi Galant. Purchased from my sister, this was the car I half-packed and drove across the country. It did me well.
13. Light tan 2006 Subaru Forester. A lease - which I'll never make the mistake of doing again. But a very good car. Last winter, when life in Seattle was hell frozen over - literally - the Forester with its AWD got us everywhere with relative ease. Yes, it did come with a rather hefty repair bill since the ice and snow destroyed the car's alignment, but still, we weren't one of those cars stuck on hills in the Seattle area.

Oh, and the car we just purchased? A Cream-colored 2003 Chevrolet Impala. A good deal with a solid history. I'll tell you how this car rides sometime in the next few days...