Good Bye Old Friend

It was early summer in Clarksville and I had just started working at the hospital.  My friend had returned from overseas and had huge chunks of free time, and I did too with my crazy hospital schedule.  So after we had lunch at our favorite (actually only) burrito joint and not wanting to go home yet the idea of going to look at the dark red Mini Cooper that had just turned up on the VW lot sounds like a great idea.  The dealer let us drive it off the lot without him, and just a mile or so down the road in a grade school parking lot I learned how to drive a stick.  I was in love.  Within the week I would become the proud owner of a slightly used 2003 mini cooper.  I had to learn to drive a stick, but it was worth it.  A co-worker named him DB after the famous if failed hijacker.  DB was my buddy through 2.5 deployments, 4 jobs, 4 houses, 10 states, 1 transmission, 85,000 miles, at least 3 snow storms, 3 army bases, and a lot of fun.  I'll miss that little guy. Besides me 2 other people have learned the art of the stick shift on his gears, and hopefully he'll find his way into someone's life soon.  He started to have too many problems and so it was time to say goodbye.  When I stood and thought about it, my first car a 1991 civic was only really about 8 years old when I started driving it and now at 30 with a good job I was driving at nearly 10 year old car.  In all truth I was trying to hold out for DB's 10th birthday, which would have been this March.  Oh well.  I can still celebrate Sheldon's 2nd Birthday on March 16th! I might have left DB on the lot, but came home with Sheldon, a 2011 Cooper S.  He's a huge step up from the bare bones DB.  Heated seats, 6 speeds, and a super sporty "S" with a hood scoop.  He still sports a huge sunroof and a stick shift, but he has an even more rockin' sound system and most importantly a gigantic warranty!! So as sad is it to loose DB, I think I'll be very happy with my new friend Sheldon whom I hope is more a little more social than his name sake.