What to Do?

Early Sunday evening, my beautiful daughter (of course I think she’s beautiful), Britt, called me. I could tell she was upset, but she didn’t come right out and say it.

After a couple of minutes of chit chat, I asked what was wrong. I could hear the tears in her voice when she said she was walking out to the highway to meet a friend. Her 20 year old POS car has been giving her problems for quite some time, and it kept dying on her on the way home. She left it at the shop and she was walking to a place to get picked up.

What to do? It’s so frustrating when she’s so far away and I can’t jump in the car to go get her. I thought of sending her money to get the POS fixed, but where do you draw the line on a car that old? Jimbob and I discussed sending her money to get another car. That would leave her with a car payment or another POS that might hold up for a couple of years.

Neither of these solutions is satisfactory as far as I’m concerned. It’s bad enough that she was stranded, but thank God she didn’t have her baby with her. And of course her estranged husband isn’t about to help out.

What to do? The more I thought about it, it seemed right that I should send her my 5 year old Jeep Liberty and get something new for myself. No, this is not an excuse to buy a new car for me. I’m perfectly happy with what I have and it’s paid for.

What to do? First I have to admit that I’ve driven Chrysler products all my life and yes, I am very prejudice against other makes. We drove up to Bonham, TX Monday to pickup a Dodge Nitro to test drive. I didn’t like it. Tuesday, I dropped the Nitro at the local Jeep dealer and picked up a new Liberty. I don’t like it as much as my old car. I didn’t realize how emotionally attached I am to my little white car until I started looking for something new.

What to do? I’ve already told Britt I’m going to ship my car to her as soon as I find a new one. My heart says that’s the right solution to help her. I have nightmares of her hitch hiking with a baby in her arms.

What to do? After two days of driving the new Liberty, I’m getting used to it. I keep telling myself there’s a reason I paid off the old car early. Now I’m in a position to help two people I love very much.

What to do? Yesterday, Jimbob took the Nitro back to the dealer in Bonham and picked up my car. I had him leave it at the Jeep dealer to have them service it before I ship it to Britt. Tonight I’m going to look at other models that the dealer has available and make a decision. The new car will grow on me and Britt will be safe.

Bye, bye little white car.