As Americans, we spend a lot of time in our cars. And time means life: from that super careful drive home from the hospital with your newborn baby, to the day the car seat gets flipped around to the forward facing position…then you blink and suddenly that baby is a teenager with a gleam in his eye behind the wheel. Remember that heady freedom of when you first had your own wheels? You could go anywhere, it seemed. No longer were you encumbered by parents, friends or waiting for buses.
Valentine’s Day is near, and while most people celebrate their loved ones, we like to celebrate our cars because for us and many like us, our cars have become part of our personal and family histories. Just a few of the reasons we love them…
Many a mom will tell you she has hid in her car for quiet time or to take an important phone call. Or driven around a cranky toddler to finally get them to nap.
When they get you safely home in bad weather, it feels like you and your vehicle have survived some kind of trauma together. You held one another up, and you both made it home.
Just like us, they have their nuances. Maybe they take a little longer to start up when it’s cold, or they have a sticky latch on the glove compartment that needs to be opened in just a certain way. You get to know your car like a partner.
The looks. Most of us can’t help but prefer a certain aesthetic of certain cars.
We create our own fun: from slug bug to padiddle, we’ve managed to make up some good games to pass the time. Singing songs together, making the honk-honk signal at truck drivers, doing the wave motion with our hand in the wind…these pastimes are braided into our stories.
We give them nicknames: The silver bullet. Banana Split. Pat Benecar. The list goes on.
They are Hollywood stars, like Lightning McQueen, Knight Rider, Herbie and so many others.
We dress them up for weddings and holidays, adorn them with bumper stickers, racing stripes, sports team flags. They become an extension of who we are.
What does your car want for Valentine’s Day? Not candy or flowers. Up-to-date maintenance is what your beloved machine wants most, so keep up on oil changes and routine mileage service. To many more happy years together!
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Meet Laura Augustine
Laura Augustine has worked as a finance assistant at Capitol Auto Group for 7 years. She is the proud mom of three kids (four, if you count her husband Chad): Ariel, age 23; Claudia, age 22; and Bryson, age 18. As a family, they love to go fishing and boating at Detroit Lake, and they also have four Saint Bernard Dogs: Grace, Ted, Jerry and Stuart.