Here are a conglomeration of Facebook Birthdays to my reliable pickup I bought on Friday the 13th, 2000. That’s right, almost twenty years ago. She has been my everyday vehicle for the duration. She’s only had one set of brakes in her lifetime. She’s seen me through two wedding dresses (but only one wedding, think on that), three speeding tickets (all THP), and I don’t know how many French fries and fishing trips. When the finance manager at the dealership asked how long I intended to keep her, I answered firmly, “Until the wheels fall off.” I bet he would be surprised to learn that I’m still behind the wheel. 

2014: Happy Birthday to Patsy, my beloved Chevrolet. She was bought 14 years ago today. It was Friday the 13th. That has proved to be exactly the opposite of a bad omen. She has been an excellent vehicle. I had $2500 in the bib pocket of my overalls for a down payment that night. My salesman was like, “you would bring cash…” Like it was a bad thing. She has hauled hay, saddles (there’s one in the seat right now), wedding dresses, bookshelves, & @$$!!! I’ve got the speeding tickets to prove it. But truly, everyone said I couldn’t afford it, I would hate being in something so big, I would go broke on the gas mileage. Gas was $1.47 per gallon the day I bought her. I still wouldn’t change a thing. Hope she’s still runnin’ in twenty more years.

2016: Happy Birthday Patsy. Sweet 16.

Like a rock.

(A rock doesn’t have air conditioning, either).

Here’s y’all a Patsy story I’ve never told on here:

I’d had her less than a week & had a hankerin’ for a doughnut. So, like any true Southerner, whupped into the Krispy Kreme for some tasty morsels. I bit into a raspberry jelly filled one pulling out of the parking lot & it squished out a hidden orifice of the pastry.

Unbeknownst to me, it wound up on my seatbelt.

Hence, in my hair.

I didn’t realize it until hours later at my destination when I wondered why my shirt was so sticky. By that time, I’d managed to get it all over the door, too.

I celebrated with doughnuts again today. But a little stickiness would have been the least of poor Patsy’s ails lately. We’ve come a long way in 16 years, with ice cream in the floorboard, barbeque sauce in the shifter, & mayonnaise on the headliner.

She’s safely delivered me to and from every destination all these years. Maybe not the easiest thing to park…and certainly was an attention getter in her early days (remember the stripper at Target, Meg??) but I’ve always been proud and felt invincible in my rig. Thanks Patsy. You’re a good ‘un.