When I first met Florence five years ago, I had just graduated from college. She happened to be born in 1985, just a couple years younger than me, and I was struck by her beautiful voice. We hit it off wonderfully from the beginning - she always seemed to be free when I wanted to go somewhere and so we spent lots of time together. We would go shopping, out on the town, and many times to visit friends. When I went out on tour she accompanied me over the 6,000 plus miles. With just a change of oil, she sang like a nightingale.
Yup, Florence was my car, a 1985 Toyota Tercel hatchback. When I bought her she had 35,000 miles. Five years later she has 104,000 and still runs great. Unfortunately, Florence and I got into an accident in Philly the week of Thanksgiving and will cost $1000 to fix. It's a thousand dollars that I don't have, so I guess it's time to move on.. Tomorrow I'll be driving Florence to the junk yard for the last time. I'm hoping one of the mechanics there will take pity on her and spend the time and effort to fix or replace her door. If that does happen she'll have many more miles and years to run.
In retrospect, we've had a good life together, but fortunately life does not consist of possessions. The past few months have reminded me that everything we have comes from God, and that attachment to the physical objects around us can be detrimental to our spiritual development. I guess the important thing is to be able to recognize the gifts around us and be willing to relinquish them when we must. So here's to Florence!
