After seeing a great post by The Good Human on choosing an eco-friendly option when renting a car, I figured I would work on updating you guys as to Green Grounded’s own car saga.  But, before we move into posts on searching and buying another car, I need to air what I’m dealing with ~ or have been dealing with ~ since the car accident.

Indeed, I have been avoiding writing this post… I am still shaken up by the ordeal.  Everytime I think about Marc and me getting t-boned by a distracted driver, I shudder.

I think over and over again how funny it is I spent 17 months with my new car, Gina, who I was lucky enough to receive as a gift.  After Gina came into my life, I promised her we would take good care of her and protect her from all of the careless drivers on the road.  I did everything right.  I drove extra defensively, which Marc has always been good at.  I parked her far away from other vehicles, and even put her next to parking medians when I could so that another car would only be on one side of her (hence reducing the odds someone would ding her with their door).

Now, yes, I know, Gina is an object.  A car.  Replaceable.  And Greenie Rockstars aren’t supposed to care about material possessions, or so the notion goes.

Gina was a gift, however.  A special and unexpected and unwarranted gift from someone very special and amazing and loving and generous in my life.  Until this gift, I had never before owned truly reliable transportation.  So, I wanted to shelter her.

As it turns out, Marc and I can only do so much.
No matter how “right” you do things, no matter how “defensive” you drive, certain things still lie beyond your control.  Perhaps that’s the hardest thing I am absorbing from this all.

Last Wednesday, I found out Gina is indeed a total loss.  I will likely get a check today for her “actual cash value”.

Her actual value, however, is in that she protected Marc and me.  Her frame stood strong, and after all the silly things I did to protect her from dings, she protected us when it mattered.

So, now you have a full emotional update… at least to the extent that I am willing to give.  The accident was a reminder that life is unexpected and I simply cannot afford to live in a rut of colorless blah waiting for the things I want.  And I know I may sound dramatic in what turns out to be just-another-accident where everyone was lucky enough to walk away… my bruises have healed, my body’s still tight, and regardless… to me, the accident was pretty darn traumatic… mostly in my head, as it put me back in my cave.

So the transitions begin, and Marc and I proceed with a number of new adventures and dilemmas.

I guess I am a bit early for Thanksgiving talk, but I really feel thankful for so much right now… a number of special people in my life who shape me and support us, for one.  That the future holds new possibilities and growth of new friendships, for another.  That the universe works for you, even when you could look at a situation as sour, but you just need to look through a new perspective.

The good news for Gina… she’s an organ donor.  So she will be helping other Impala’s undergo life-saving and cosmetic surgery to live happy, healthy normal lives.  My Mother responded to that very poetically with, “You could be beside her at a light one day and not know it.”  I smiled.  The thought was comforting as I realized she was everywhere and we were one.

…so, do you think I’m crazy yet?  Regardless, in honor of happy memories with Gina, here’s a video from The Day of the Raleigh Rainbow back in April…

Sustainably yours ~ Ashley Sue

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 5:58 pm and is filed under transportation, vehicles, whatever (miscellaneous). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.