Mortality

As if my week hasn't been stressful enough, check out what happened to Martha this week


For those of you not in the know, Martha is my SUV and that's her odometer. Poor lady, she rolled over 100,000 miles. It's hard to believe she is already that old. Of course, I can't even remember what it was like before she came into our lives 4 1/2 years ago. But I don't measure a cars' age in the number of years old the car actually is, but by the number of miles the car has driven. And now she has reached it - that age, the age I have been dreading for months, years even! But Martha has proven herself to be an extremely trustworthy and reliable, dear now old member of our family.

As I have been watching Martha's odometer creep closer and closer to the "dreaded" number over the past few weeks, it led me to contemplate mortality. What is it about a car getting to that 100,000 milestone mark that just freaks us out? I believe that it must be a lot like a person turning the ripe old age of 60. How dreadful! You know it is coming. We should all be so lucky to live to such an age. Not that 60 is old, by any means. But you know that if it hasn't already begun by that point, it won't be long. Old age will begin to set in. I know that Martha still has many good miles left in her, just like a 60-year old person. She runs great right now. She has never given us any problems. Like I said, she has proven herself to be extremely trustworthy and reliable. But now that she has reached 60, I know that it won't be long before something goes wrong with her, the same way someone turning 60 knows their days are numbered! She definitely doesn't get up and go like she used to, no matter how hard Donny tries to get her to. I am constantly telling him, as I pat her so softly on the dashboard, that he needs to treat her with the respect her age has earned her. She is a senior citizen. And like all older people, I now have to worry about her. I feel the need to constantly have her checked out to make sure there aren't any unseen problems lurking around under her hood. My biggest fear is that one day she just gives out and stops running all together. That's when you have to make the choice of either putting a lot of money into fixing her, or just retiring her to the old folks home. She is already on her third set of tires. Would be this like an old person needing a hip or knee replacement? Another fear is the transmission going out. That would be like needing a triple bypass surgery. But only time will tell what the future holds for dear old Martha. I hope that over the years we have taken good enough care of her that she will be able to sustain herself for many more miles to come, especially since she is almost paid for!