1986 or so Oldsmobile Delta 88
The first car I drove was our family's Olds Delta 88. It was the same color as the one above. My dad bought this car new and was very proud of it. The interior was a plush velvet. During high school, my mom would often to take the Dial-a-Ride to work so that I could use the car after school. When my dad died, I got to bring this car back to college. It finally gave up the ghost when I was working at a camp for the summer in Paw Paw, Michigan. I think I eventually got $500 and a free tow from a junk yard for it.
1994 Toyota Corolla
The first car I drove was our family's Olds Delta 88. It was the same color as the one above. My dad bought this car new and was very proud of it. The interior was a plush velvet. During high school, my mom would often to take the Dial-a-Ride to work so that I could use the car after school. When my dad died, I got to bring this car back to college. It finally gave up the ghost when I was working at a camp for the summer in Paw Paw, Michigan. I think I eventually got $500 and a free tow from a junk yard for it.
1994 or so Ford Escort wagon
When the Olds died, we went to Kadrich Auto and bought this Ford Escort wagon. This is the car in which Amanda and I dated. It had a CD player and I remember listening to a very specific David Wilcox disc on the way back from Marion. When I got a job and Amanda and I were engaged, we sold it to Joe for $1000. When he wasn't riding his bike to work, he drove this for a while.
Amanda's first car was a green Corolla that her parents got her when she turned 16. She drove it to school every day with Brad. It began Amanda's Toyota loyalty. When I started working at Calvin and Amanda began staying home, we decided we only needed one car. We sold it to some pretty shady characters. It was our first try at used car sales. We should have kept it. It is probably still on the road somewhere.
2000 Volkwagen Jetta
Amanda and I felt like we had hit the jackpot when we were both getting a paycheck every other week. What else were we going to do with all that money? Save it? No. We decided to go out and buy a brand new VW Jetta. Did we get the low end one to save some money? Heck no! We got the V6 with leather and the CD changer. It was a lot of fun. We thought we were pretty cool. But when Caleb came along we couldn't even fit a second car seat in it. So we sold it to Tricia and Alex. We lost our proverbial shirts. Lesson learned, kind of.
2004 Toyota Sienna
With two kids, we decided to get a minivan. The Toyota Sienna had just gone through a redesign and was getting rave reviews. So we looked all over Grand Rapids and west Michigan to try and find one. We finally called a friend from college Joel Gates, whose family owns a dealership in South Bend, Indiana. He got us into this van. It was a great van for our family for 8 years. We drove it to Michigan many times, Colorado, Indiana, Chicago and made lots of great memories in it.
2012 Ford E-350
And now the Silver Bullet has taken the place of our Sienna. We're looking forward to the many miles that, God willing, we will put on this thing. It will be the vehicle that most of our kids think of when they think of growing up. It will be their "Olds Delta 88".
I'm thankful for material things that God brings into our lives like vehicles that become touchstones to anchor memories to. I remember my family's Rambler and green bean colored Dodge and the silver Chevette. My kids will remember some of these and tie many memories to them as well.
