Our 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan finally got sold yesterday, June 18.
We had to let it go. My wife and I leased a smaller car, a Honda Civic, so that she can have something smaller to practice her driving with. Since we now use the Honda on our daily commute to her work and back, the van ended up parked on the sidewalk. We get to use it occasionally, but it made no sense keeping two vehicles in the family when one car will do. Another note is that gasoline prices are starting to rise; the Honda would be more economical for us than the six cylinder engined Caravan.
I am not that sad to see the van go, but I just had to point out what that car represented in our life. We were able to buy that van just four months after arriving here in Canada. Brand new! It’s very significant because back home in the Philippines I could not ever imagine being able to afford to buy one. In fact, it is considered a luxury vehicle in my home country. If the dollar value here in Canada is converted to Philippine Pesos, the van’s purchase price would amount to a value with a “Million” on it. That’s a lot of money from where I came from! It only goes to show how fortunate my wife and I have become ever since we moved to Canada.
Our First Baby after taking delivery, circa 2005:
The van has what’s called the Stow ‘N Go seats. This meant that the second and third row seats could be folded and stowed away into the floor of the van, leaving a very flat surface. This proved very useful and handy when we had to haul stuff around. When we first came here in Calgary, we had to stay with my sister-in-law for a while and when it was time for us to move to our own house, the Caravan and it’s flexible seating feature had enough space and room to swallow all our belongings, saving us from renting a moving van. The same goes with filling up our new house with furniture: the van made short work of taking in all those huge IKEA boxes.
We don’t see ourselves moving out to another house anytime soon. We don’t get to buy anything huge from IKEA too. We rarely drive my wife’s nephews to school anymore.
Circa 2007:
So thanks, and goodbye van. You have been a very steady, extremely useful and reliable driving companion. I am sure your new owner will be very happy with you!
Hey Dong, yes – it is but natural that you will feel a bit sad about letting go your first purchase after arriving in Canada. It would be the first of many others in the future. At least you are selling now, unlike before when you would just give stuff away.
Bwahahahah!
Anyway I was very impressed with your cool job interview. Sabi nga ni Chie para ka na raw tunay na celebrity with the way you responded to the questions. Ang galeng galeng mo na talaga, anak.