The Blue Matrix That Has...

It was 15 years ago this month that my parents purchased the 2003 bluish Toyota Matrix that they still own.

In the weeks beforehand, I participated in some of their trips to car dealerships to look at new cars, even riding in some cars that they test-drove.  I didn't find it all that interesting to be present as they talked with people about cars, but I made a point to be a good sport about it.  But it was pretty exciting when they brought the vehicle home from the Bredemann Toyota dealer in Park Ridge.

That meant it was time to bid farewell to the bluish Volvo vehicle my family had, the only vehicle I had ever really known up to that point in my life.  It was a fine car and served us well in getting us to our destination on various trips, like our trips to Midwest locations including the Double JJ Ranch in Michigan (the last summer vacation for which we used that car), various trips to St. Louis (including one that tied in Springfield, IL, and Bluffdale Farm), and then to spots further away like Niagara Falls, and another trip to locations in Colorado including Denver and Estes Park.  And it got us around town, like on those days when I got a ride to Irving School.

When I was new to middle school, my parents were in the process of acquiring the new car.  And like the Volvo, it has served our needs well throughout the past 15 years.  It got us around town, like me to school, first Julian, then OPRFHS, and then to Valparaiso University, as well as Dominican University when I didn't bike or go by public transit there for graduate school classes.  It was the vehicle I used to build up behind the wheel experience once I started the process of learning how to drive.  I'm glad my parents have graciously let me use it often throughout the years for short trips in the area, and even the one time I took it to ValpU to bring some of my belongings back home during the week leading up to my college graduation.

And we took some great family trips using the vehicle, including the Outer Banks in North Carolina (2003), Lake Lure in North Carolina (2005), Nashville (2006), Williamsburg in Virginia (2009) right before going to start at ValpU, the Great Smoky Mountain area of Tennessee and North Carolina (2010), and Washington, D.C. (2011).

Indeed, it's a good vehicle that's still working pretty well.  I think back to the days when someone would pick me up from school, and as I walked out of school, it was always nice to see the sight of that bluish vehicle waiting to take me home.  Similar to the home in which I grew up, the Matrix is one of those things that is part of how I have experienced life for the past 15 years, and I'm delighted that my family has had use of it.