Gremlin Years

My husband and I are not materialistic people. We are fortunate enough to have nice things and very much appreciate that fact, but as I said, we are anything but materialistic!

Nothing's ever really been handed to me in life, I've worked hard for all my nice stuff. Of course, that makes me appreciate it all the more. There was a time when I didn't have so many cool things and I've definitely not forgotten. Some people might even try to say those were the "good old days" or claim that things were so much simpler back then.

I beg to differ.

While I am not materialistic in nature, I do not believe my life would be better or simpler if I still drove a car that I could never be sure was going to get me (along with one toddler and one infant daughter) from point A to point B! Likewise, although I did appreciate and actually liked "government cheese", I am quite thankful I am no longer reliant on that sort of things to feed my family.

So, call them the good old days if you like, I will argue that these days are "gooder"

I wasn't much more than a baby myself when I had my first two children, beautiful daughters who rode around with me in an ugly old red AMC Gremlin that sometimes ran and sometimes didn't. I remember driving home through the back roads of southern Ohio late one night when I hit a bump and my headlights went out. It was also common for the radio to turn itself off and on, dependent on whatever terrain I happened to be traveling.

Yeah ... good times! Yikes!

Given the fact that cell phones had not yet been invented, "scary times" might be a better way to describe them.

At any rate, I thank God the "Gremlin years" are over and we've moved on to bigger, better things.

Could I "survive" if I had to go back to driving a junker? (In reality, "surviving" while attempting to maneuver a junker through Atlanta traffic would actually be unlikely ... but you know what I mean) Aside from that, the answer is "Of course I could!" I am a strong woman! My worth is not determined by the car I drive, or how much I pay for my mac n' cheese!

My husband and I proved this point last weekend when we took two of our grand kids out on the lake for the day. Our boat is very, very old. We bought it used three summers ago just because we wanted something ... anything with an operating motor that would get us onto the water! The real catch was, we were determined to purchase it with what cash we had on hand. Hence, the very old, very unattractive boat that despite it's appearance has served us well.

Well, last weekend we docked our old boat for the day in a cove that was full of very NICE boats. I'm talking about boats that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A couple of them were likely worth well over a million bucks. Never the less, we pulled our little boat right in between them all and unloaded our gear.

I'm pretty sure we had every bit as much fun that day as the people in the big fancy boats. I will admit that sitting on the beach looking at the contrast between our boat and those that surrounded it did make me feel just the slightest bit like I did back in the Gremlin years ...even though I've moved on to the stage of my life where I am riding in an ugly old boat, not because I have to but because that's what I choose.

It's the choice that makes the difference!

I'm glad the Gremlin years have passed, but all the same, I cannot say I regret living them for a season. They served their purpose and I learned a lot for having endured.

My son, who was born several years post-Gremlin, has never ridden in a junker car. He's always been taxied around in style and doesn't have a clue about how his sisters were transported when they were younger. He'll turn fifteen next summer and I've already started looking around at cars for him. I hope to find something safe ... but possibly a bit humbling for him to drive. I figure we all need a few Gremlin years in order to appreciate the nicer things in life when they finally appear.

A few years down the road when he is a successful business man driving a fancy little sports car, he'll thank me for first allowing him a taste of the Gremlin experience!