The other day was a pretty difficult day for us. We finally had to make the decision to say goodbye to our old car. I know what you might be thinking, “Rafi, it’s just a car… get over it.”
The truth is, it IS just a car, an inanimate object, a piece of machinery that got us around from place to place. It is also so much more than that.
The Explorer was our home, our little engine that could, our adventure partner, a place where we felt safe, and most importantly our friend. The Explorer was our little sanctuary away from it all, a place where we felt empowered and safe.
Even when we were no longer living in it, we found ourselves reaching out for the security that beautiful little car provided us. walking outside to take a difficult phone call ended up with us sitting in the back of the explorer, the way you would sit on a front porch that you love.
The explorer had a similar story to our own before it hit the road with us. It had sat neglected for years, and was rusting away, without doing what it had been created to do. Klee and I gave it a completely new life and in the process created a new life for ourselves.
There were many great conversations, tears, laughter, breakthroughs, moments of insecurity, love, and amazement in our great little home on the road.
It represented our joy, our freedom, and our hope for the future. It brought smiles to so many people around us and became a part of our story.
But, it finally reached a point where it gave all that it could give. It never broke down, even though people looked at us funny in 2009 when we hit the road in it. They said it wouldn’t travel for very long, it truly was our little engine that could.
Neither one of us could bring ourselves to send it to a junk yard, so we donated it to a place that helps children, this seemed like the right kind of viking send off this little car deserves.
We sat in the back one last time, and had a really difficult time getting up from the place we knew so well. We still shed many tears that day.
I’d like to think that the Explorer will have a new life helping children in some way and continue to be an amazing and magical force of good in the world.
We’ll miss our friend dearly.
