In my early driving years, I had several “hand me down” vehicles. My oldest and most memorable, was an ’86 Dodge Ram van with about 1500 stickers, inside and out (I counted). People still talk about that old van. I drove the rest of the vehicles into the ground, because they were so close to “the end.” When my last “previously owned” car kicked the bucket, my dad advised me to get a new car. When we arrived at the dealership, the salesman asked what I was looking for in a car. I joked that I wanted a car that started every time (the last car would start about 30-50% of the time), the ability to open the window with one hand (the last car needed one hand to hold the glass and the other to press the button), a radio that worked (I was using a boom box) and air/heat that worked (it wasn’t in the old car). The guy didn’t laugh at my joke, which I still think is pretty funny. Ah well. People not laughing at my jokes is something I don’t take personally, I’ll just laugh at them for the both of us! 🙂

We finally walk out to the lot and that’s when I met him. Sam. I didn’t know his name yet, or that he was a he, but there he was. Black with blue sparkles and a tricked out stereo (and windows that went up and down with one hand, heat and air conditioning that worked, and it started on the first try). I hopped in and the speedometer read 112 (or 105ish…), all of my cars up to that point had well over 100,000 and some close to 200,000. I took a 5 mile test drive. We signed the paperwork and I drove my new friend away.

It took a few weeks to name it Sam. I introduced Sam to a friend and said he….and then said, oh, hey, I guess it’s a he!

Since that day, Sam has taken me cross country multiple times, to Lake Placid and on my honeymoon. I had my first serious conversation with my husband in Sam’s comfy seats. I have cried and prayed with friends in Sam. I have taken several day trips and short overnight trips with Bret with this little guy. I was driving him when I called friends to share that I was engaged.

I love this car. Sam is my dream car.

Yesterday, Sam had a big birthday. He is 200,000 miles old. Bret was driving to school with Sam, so I missed that birthday, but I’m ok with that. Because to me, Sam’s real birthday is when we met, roughly around 109 miles. Today, my dear friend turned 200,109. Happy birthday pal, here’s to the next 200,000!