a tribute to the lumina

today is likely the last day for the lumina. jessica and brandon have both found employment and will be buying a new car today.

my 92 lumina rescued me from sharing a car with my dad starting my first summer home from college. it cost $3000. i didn't even have $300, so i worked for leanne all summer to save up enough to make payments when i went back to school.

it drove me to andrew's house night after night that summer as i made one last effort to chase my last ex boyfriend before mike. i packed it up in august and parked it in front of Scmidt/Wilson the day I moved into the triple with sara & emily.

it freed me from having to bum rides to meijer off of mike, and drove me home, christmas after christmas. somehow, it managed to speed on one of those trips (and on 2 other occasions later), get me a ticket, and land me in driving school.

it's doors froze shut on many occasions, causing mike to break my passenger door while trying to open it. it made me late for student teaching on many cold mornings as i tried to pry open the doors. it sat in the parking lot at the airport during a winter storm while i waited hours for mike's canceled flight that never came. it stayed there, frozen solid, when kristin tried to melt it open with hot water, finally gave up, and drove me home in the corolla (another classic that deserves its own tribute).

the lumina drove me home from the louisville airport as i stared at my new engagement ring the whole way across 64. it saved me from numerous walks to the theta suite for meetings that year and often parked illegally at the loading dock behind the music building (shame on it). it took me on my last drive up to muncie for graduation at the end of my student teaching. it kept me company on the long, lonely and tearful ride home.

my lumina drove my bridesmaids and i to get our hair did (hehe) for my wedding. then i parked it in front of my house, sold it to jessica for $500, and left the keys in my room. i moved to florida the next morning.

good bye, lumina. i feel like a piece of my youth is being hauled off today.