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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

This old car


Here is a link to a David Wilcox song that made me think of our red, 8 passenger Dodge van that drove the entire Johnson clan all over the United States, countless trips to Idaho up dusty gravel roads to the "Johnson flat" and countless other journeys (many which I wasn't even on earth yet to tag along). Though it was just a car it really was a mobile extension of our house on Via Del Palma. I still remember the shapes of different stains and burns in the maroon upholstery. I remember coming home from football practice in 4th grade, must have been fall of 1993. Finding out that we had sold the van. I think we all felt as though we had lost a dear dear member of the family. its not the car itself that's special, its the lives and memories that grew within the steel. Ill always remember the cars of my childhood.

5 comments:

Erika said...

Is this the car that *someone* etched Tyler's name into the side of the paint?

Michal said...

i'll never forget the trip we made across the country in that van, which we called "big red" for a while. how much of that trip do you remember, stu? i remember when we bought the van and drove it home all shiny and new. i also remember that the last year before mom sold it, it always smelled like gym socks and old band uniforms. wonder why?:)

Evan said...

I remember sitting in the space between the back benches and listening to my Eagles tape on the walk-man trying to memorize Hotel California... I know what you're thinking and yes I am still that cool

Nana said...

Our van had a silver stripe, not white, and a single door, no running boards.Not a stretch model, like this picture. Much prettier, but it could be the romance of memory.
I remember the night I drove it home from the dealership - after the Vanagon we had been driving, it felt like the cockpit of a 747.

Allison said...

We made a lot of good memories in that van. Remember how we turned the back seat around and made a "game room" in the back cargo area with the cooler as a card table? That was awesome. It is a good thing that Mom or Dad never got in an accident while we toad-tripped.