I remember the day like it was yesterday… Georgette and I were shopping for a car at Floyd Traylor Honda in Fort Smith. We picked out a 1991 Honda Accord Wagon (I wasn’t the van kind of guy and this was as close as I wanted) because it had room for our expanding family. After test driving the Navy Blue Far Eastern car we knew this was the chariot for us. The usual posturing began with the salesman, as we set down in his closet-sized office preparing for the negotiation of all negotiation’s! In my corner was a Classic Red Sierra pickup truck for trade-in… in the salesman corner was the infamous “manager” who would let the novice salesman know if it was a deal or no deal. Following several tenacious rounds both the salesman and I were weary from the barrage of heavy left’s and right’s applied to each other’s brain. Finally, it came down to the 15th and final round, I heaved my final price and danced in triumph as he went to his corner seeking advice. Then, the old man, the boss, Mr. Floyd Traylor himself came to the center of the ring…and after acknowledging that my grandfather had given him his first job, threw in the towel giving me the TKO! From that day when we drove the Hondanator off the lot it has been part of our family for the past 16 years.
She, the honda, did her best after 16 years to hold on to her paint, but like her driver began to go bald. Inside her organs were strong but her shoes wore out often…8-9 times! She has been there for us everytime we needed her. She brought children home from the hospital, carried Christmas gifts to Grandma’s house, faithfully raised her trunk to carry the bags and bags of groceries to our house. She endured the cold of winter, heat of summer and loved it when the water hose was turned her way. She has driven fast while everyone laughed… and driven slow while we cried coming home from a funeral. She didn’t mind the french fries between the seats, or the coins lost for years in locations no human would ever find. She was home plate during baseball games and the field-goal during football season. In her early years she was only a city girl, but later learned to find her way to the dusty roads of the country. As a matter of fact it is suspected she has even been hunting!!! She has parked at many houses during her 16 years of tireless service and only a few times was she seperated from us while staying the night with other friends “at the shop.” She has drunk more gas than the Exxon Valdez, been waxed more than most women, and taught two boys how to drive.
Well, you probably know how the rest of the story is about to go… although I made a promise not to change vehicles until Houston Nutt had a passing game… I have decided to go ahead and do the upgrade anyway! We looked at her cousin “toyota” but my dollars and their yen could not match up very well. However, we did find a nice German born in 2002 that seems to need adoption.
So, we say goodbye in a couple of weeks to an Ol’ Honda…she didn’t die, but just retired! I wonder what kind of memories the German will give us…
Jeff “I really want a Plane” Beshears
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