March 27th, 2008 by Kateastrophe

Viv was my 1995 Honda Civic LX. Her’s is a funny story. I bought her on September 10^th, 1999 (Julia’s birthday!). She arrived as a trade-in at the Dodge/Jeep Dealership I was working at and it was love at first sight. I had to have her. She was a replacement to my piece of crap Jetta, The Toaster. Viv only had 40,000 miles on her. Practically brand new!! I drove her and loved her through college and after. She didn’t have a name until after I read “The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” and naming her Viv, after the main character, just seemed right. She was my baby until, in 2004, I decided it might be time for a new ride. I worked two jobs at the time and one of them afforded me the luxury of getting the dealership cost of a number of cars, so I decided to buy a new Toyota Corolla.

Selling Viv was going to be traumatic for me, but I was prepared. Then, my knight in shining armor arrived, and my future husband Matt (who I was dating at the time) needed a commuter car for his 45 mile drive to work every day. He bought Viv from me and drove her down to Phoenix. I knew she was going to a good home and could still, by proxy, be my baby.

Cut to a year later. Matt and I got engaged and Viv is welcomed back into my family!! Granted I wasn’t driving her but I could gaze at her lovingly each day. As time went by, Matt changed jobs and didn’t have a long commute anymore. His preferred mode of transportation has always been his manly Jeep Wrangler Sport, and without a long drive, Viv was neglected. She sat in our garage barely getting driven and sporting a dead battery. She sat there through a lot. We moved twice in three years, boiled her to death in the garage and repaired her even though we weren’t using here. There was a close call where a neighbor was going to buy her from us, but that fell through and she made the trip to our brand new house, but still sat, unused. We got notes on her all the time asking if we were interested in selling, but I just couldn’t bring myself to let it be done.

Recently a co-worker of mine mentioned that he has a 100 mile commute every day, and with gas prices, it’s costing him a fortune to drive his truck to work. He asked if anyone knew of a cheap, decent commuter car for sale. I reluctantly raised my hand and mentioned that Viv might be for sale. Within two weeks the deal was done. She was sold and going away.

Yesterday I drove Viv for the last time and handed her off to her new owner. She’s been mine for roughly 104,000 miles, countless road trips, probably a thousand boyfriends, amazing times with my girlfriends (I’m recalling one particular adventure when I had paid $100 to have her detailed and these nasty girls driving next to us threw a 44 oz Dr Pepper THROUGH the window! There was a high speed chase that ensued and I believe a retaliation involving a plastic bottle and a dent in their car. Hahah!!) two new cars, a big move, a marriage . . . she’s really been there for most of the important milestones in my life. It was sad to hand over the keys and title yesterday. I am going to miss her. Maybe her new owner will let me visit. Good luck and good travels, Viv! Go forth knowing that, at least by me, you were loved!! Hahaha.

This is not actually Viv, just one of her sisters. She looked like this, just darker! And prettier.