Mustang Sally

Don't ever underestimate the effect your childhood has on your later life. Yep, I am in one of my philosophical moods today. You might ask what brings up this thought in my feeble brain? Last week I got a new ride or least new to me. I got a 2006 Tahoe, pretty much loaded to the gills, one-time owner. I feel like Big Brother is watching since I have OnStar to watch over me. If the Big Brother allusion gets past you, go check out George Orwell's 1984 (once an English teacher always an English teacher). Anyway, I digress.

As a child, I had parents who were frugal and conscious of every penny they spent. Now that I am much older, I realize what a great money manager my mother was and still is. I think she is probably one of the millionaires next door that Dave Ramsey talks about, those people who live quite, content lives while they are putting back gobs of money and surprise everyone with the amount of money they truly have when they die. I have always said that if my husband and my mother had been married they would be starting on their second million in savings by now. Again, I digress.

As a child I remember my parents having only three cars while I lived in their house under their care. I remember seeing pictures of a black car when I was really young. When I was in the 4th grade they bought a Ford Falcon station wagon, and when I was in the 10th grade they bought a Chrysler Fury. There was no new car or even a decent used car for me when I got my driver's license. However, I inherited a really old Ford Falcon compact from my Papaw when I was in the 12th grade. This car was in the saddest shape that could be imagined, but to me it represented freedom on the road. I even took it to State my freshman year. What a sight I must have been.

Where is all this reminiscing leading? Well, I made a vow that when I got on my own I would own a new car whenever I wanted one. I married Lance after graduate school, and we headed to Florida in a Ford Fairlane that his step dad bought for him when he was in college. Not long after we found an apartment and and started working in the Clay County School system, we bought me a used Toyota Carona. Cute little car that I felt really snazzy driving and a big step up from the old Falcon that had long since died before I left State.

Lance later bought him a Ford Pinto, death trap of the century, that was mustard yellow. I usually refused to ride in or drive it. A more financially stable time came for us, and we bought our first new car, a Chevrolet Malibu, white with red interior. I was up-town driving this baby. Lance traded up to a new Toyota Carolla. However, not long after, I got the Thunderbird fever, and Lance found me a green one slightly used. I took to the road in it like there was no other car to be had.

We moved back to Mississippi, me pregnant with Laura. Not too long after she was born, I just had to have a Park Avenue. Sweet husband that he is, Lance found me a new one "at a good price." By this time everyone knew that I couldn't keep a car for very long. The one that seemed just right at the time was the one I didn't want a year or two later. No matter that we were losing money each time we traded in. We did keep the Park Avenue long enough to pay it off. In the mean time, Lance got a Mazda pick up that he drove for quite a while. My next car after the Park Avenue was a Ford Crown Victoria that didn't last very long. I then got a Mazda MPV mini van. We had a wreck in it, and that gave way to a silver Cadillac Deville. We had some problems with it and traded in for a Toyota Camry that we kept about a year. I often said we bought that car because Lance could not resist the blue eyes of the the lady salesperson. The next vehicle was a Ford Windstar van followed by a Honda Accord. In between all this trading Lance sold the Mazda pick up to our next door neighbor and bought one of the smaller Ford Ranger trucks and later a Ford F150 Series truck. About this time the SUV craze was going strong, so I just had to have an SUV. Our neighbor across the street had bought an Eddie Bauer Ford Expedition he wanted to sell after a divorce, so we bought it.

While I owned the Expy, I became a listener of Dave Ramsey's. God bless the man with a plan. I listened to him religiously and could answer the caller's problem before he would. I didn't care if I ever got a new car. Lance did get a new Chevrolet Silverado Truck during this time. My goal was to pay off all my credit cards and get rid of all bills except the house. We accomplished that goal with me still driving the Expy. Well, I got rid of my Expy last week very begrudgingly. As a matter of fact, it was my husband who initiated getting a new car. He felt that with too many more trips to Tupelo, I was going to be calling AAA or walking fairly soon. I, on the other hand, was shooting for 200,ooo miles. What is funny is that the guy we bought the Expy from 9 years ago bought it back.

Hence, my new ride. What has amazed me about our new purchase is that it has not phased me much. Yep, I have a new ride. Nope it's not a big deal. I am even more blessed that I have been able to get the car monkey off my back, and we have been able to become financially stable. My parents knew a long time ago what it took me almost 25 years to learn.

So, if you are counting, over 34 years of marriage my husband and I have had 19 vehicles! Pretty sad, huh?

What about the Mustang Sally title? I still dream about owning a refurbished '64 or '65 red Mustang convertible. Can you say Baby Boomer? I can see me going to the post office or Wal Mart in my red Mustang listening to oldies but goodies on the 8-track tape player. But if I never have one, it will be okay. The dream is part of the fun.