Alright, so there's much to say about Cherry. Her legacy, relentless pursuit of excellence, and her uniqueness has put her perhaps in the top slot on the list of cars I've driven, maybe even ahead of Black Thunder.
I inherited Cherry in the fall of 2003 from a family friend, just at the start of my sophomore year of college. At the time that I met her, she had a removable tape deck that was stolen about two weeks into our courtship; I got a CD player installed the very next day, and we've been enjoying music together ever since...
Over the course of the last five and a half years, Cherry's been banged up a bit. Injuries include a debacle in Albany that involved irregular and numerous alternator belts in the winter of 2005, a car backing into her left side in the spring of 2005, a minor accident courtesy of my brother in 2006, a blown tire in 2007 that nearly killed us twice in one night, and the absolute destruction of a racoon in March, 2008, which cracked her smile. Her courageous battle through these injuries helped her develop her rich character and hard-working demeanor. In the summer of 2008, she developed a hiccup that would embody her last year; the "clicking" of Cherry pulsed with the music much like a heartbeat.
Eventually, Cherry's age caught up with her. She developed an oil leak which spread to the transmission fluid and coolant, and ultimately ended up affecting her heart/engine's ability to maintain fluid. After a lengthy battle with these ailments, Cherry called it quits in solitude, retiring gracefully to the driveway.
Over the years, Cherry developed a love for travel, trekking numerous times to the southern part of the state, more than a half dozen trips to Yankee Stadium (most notably with a car filled with full-sized Matt, Alan, Joe, and I in 2008); the exact number of trips taken to Albany during my years there is unknown. Just once, Cherry hosted a physical display of a torrid romance. It remains, to this day, the lone hook-up hosted by her. In addition, Cherry relished the opportunity to travel to the Lake.
In late April, 2009, Cherry made her last long-distance trip, brandishing her Yankee license plates unabashedly in Boston, Mass. As if sensing the end of an era, Cherry pushed 90 mph for just the third time in our relationship. It was a moment of pride for certain, as it demonstrated Cherry's desire to go out on her own terms. She will be missed. I will say that if I could ever really love an object, Cherry would be at the top of the list. Will miss you.
Not a car guy, but will miss this girl...
No comments:
Post a Comment