Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Things fall apart - me and the car

This morning Brad, Aiden and I were hanging out together, snug as three bugs in a pod, or three peas in a rug, or something, and suddenly Aiden burst into a series of brilliant, open mouthed smiles that made us want to explode with joy and eat him up. I was marveling at how he could do this - smile for no reason, that is - ( I know, I know - it was probably just a gas bubble or somesuch mundane explanation) and was reaching for words along the lines of, " Where did he learn this with such a..." and I think I was saying, "...pessimistic mother..." when Brad said, "...pedigree of melancholy..." and I just about fell apart laughing.

I fall apart a little easier these days what with all the hormones, lack of sleep ( actually, I've been doing pretty well in the sleep department, all things considered, I think)... etc. For instance, the other day, Brad was cleaning out his Mazda, as he is getting ready to sell it and he came upstairs and showed me he'd found the little ring box that held my engagement ring four and a half years ago. It has been sitting under a pile of stuff in his car, where he'd put it right after he asked me, all this time... and for some reason, it made me burst into tears. They were happy tears... but they were a little bittersweet, thinking about getting rid of that car which has held so many good memories for us. ( Just for the record, he didn't ask me to marry him IN the car. Better yet,( seriously) he asked me in a beautiful old New England graveyard but it was raining and so we got back in the car fairly soon after the question had been popped and ate our picnic dinner in the car...) We have taken many Saturday drives in that car, getting lost on old New Hampshire backwoods roads. We drove away from our wedding in that car. When we moved down here to Georgia, we drove in that car. Sigh.

The dear old Mazda MX-6 is a sad old shell of its former self by now - having had one too many run-ins with a deer... but we'll have to post a goodbye picture here before he actually parts with it. It signals the end of an era ... a milestone which marks our departure from the chapter of carefree couplehood and our entrance into the age of parenthood.

Wah and hurray, at the same time. :)

5 comments:

ljm said...

Now where was the camera for those first smiles? Those are the best, aren't they?

Anonymous said...

It's amazing how many memories can be associated with just one thing, like a car or old uncomfortable couch (in my case). And how attached you can be to that insignificant-in-the-grand-scheme-of-things...thing as a result.

At least you will be able to keep the memories long after the car is gone. :)

Lori said...

More baby pics, please!!

Shari said...

Oooo, I love baby smiles. We never get tired of Maisy smiling. I'll turn the corner and see her across the room and she'll break into the biggest smile ever and it makes my heart explode. And I think those first smiles are genuine. I don't care if they're from gas. :-)

Pedigree of melancholy? Lol! I love that. I have to tell my sis that . . . she'll totally relate.

Remember how I told you that I had tears streaming down my face in the doctor's office at Maisy's first appt? Yeah. So, I understand exactly what you're saying.

What's funny is, since Maisy's been born, I cry more happy tears than sad tears. But I'm definitely more teary than ever.

My first car was a Mazda GLC. I scrimped and saved to purchase it with my own money, so it was very difficult to let it go.

Shari said...

Oh, and one more thing. Just yesterday, my sis and I were on the phone talking about how all of my friends tend to be the melancholic type (probably because I tend to be more of the slightly bubbly/optimistic type with some melancholy thrown in for good measure). So I laughed when I read this today. My sister would call herself a pessimistic mother too, and she's my best friend in the world.