This is a tribute to a departed old friend. Not a human friend, but a mechanical one. This friend was a 1989 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. When it came into my life more than 10 years ago, I had no idea how it would change my life and help to usher me into adulthood.

It was a cold and rainy March day when we got her. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled. I was hoping for something a bit more sporty or more truck like To me, it was an old man used car, with plush seats and a soft cushy ride. Not what a 17 year old wants in a car. But since it became my family’s main car, it was what I had, and what I had to drive. And drive it I did. I discovered that the car indeed had a certain style and flare and soon I learned to love that car and learned to take pride in what I had, rather than lust after what I didn’t. I washed it every week, kept it spotless inside and out. It was a thing of beauty. Instead of speeding around town like my peers, I would take it slow. I would cruise the streets with a car full of friends and cassette in the tape deck. We weren’t in any rush, we were cruisin’. We spent so many nights just driving around our small town. We never got into any real trouble, except for one near accident. It happened on a dark country road. We were just goofing around and things got out of hand. Luckily no one was hurt. But I had to take responsibility for it. I didn’t hide it from my parents, and accepted the consequences. Looking back, that night, I think I learned an important lesson about driving and life.

And so on it went. Through my last year of high school, the car was my constant companion , even being written into the script of a movie I made with my best friend for grade 12 Communications class. The day I left for college in the fall of 99, was when that relationship ended. The car stayed at home, when I left. It was returned to my parents control but I didn’t completely lose my affection for the car. Every time I’d be home, I’d make sure to inquire about recent maintenance, and repairs my dad should have made. I washed it once in a while but it was never the same as it was during those last years of high school. Soon I got my own car, and I found my new friend.

Soon after my parents moved away, and the car went with them. I hardly saw it, drove it even less, and within a few years it had begun to really show it’s age. A string of breakdowns, led my parents to purchase another vehicle, and soon the Cadillac was parked in the driveway more than it was on the road. Another breakdown forced the car to become a stationary fixture in the driveway almost 3 years ago. That is until yesterday. It took some convincing, but my dad finally decided that he wasn’t ever going to fix the car, and it was time to let it go. I’m not sure what will happen to her now that she’s been towed away but I hope that someone will fix her up and give her a chance to cruise again.