Ode to Jake the Jeep

Today I picked my my '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee from the mechanic. I dumped $460 into it. Logic dictates that I get a new car. Every winter I give the Jeep a little pep talk and say, "Just make it through this winter and then I'll retire you." He made it through another Chicago winter w/ the most ungodly potholes I've ever seen. And I can't let go of him. Here's his history.

We got Jake July 1999. He was just off of a 3 year lease and was the coolest thing ever. Ok, well don't forget that I was born and raised in NYC and so didn't drive as a teenager. I got my license my sophmore year-- of college. I used it to write checks and then to get into bars. Cars were not part of my reality for a long time. So an SUV was pretty cool to me. I moved to Wisconsin in 1998. I was looking for a job and the legal aid in Madison had an opening w/ the Migrant Project. My boss-to-be said, "Do you have a car and license?" Yep. But can I drive? Not so much. Anyway, it was a great way to learn to drive-- all those open roads w/ no one on them in BRE Wisconsin. Matt & I had taken over his parents' old Jeep Cherokee (Chief, my first love) and he had decided that after a year and several repairs we needed a new car. So we traded in Chief for Jake. He got his name bc he's all black and the weekend we got him, we drove to Chicago to meet law school friends (it was our first law school friends reunion where Kim got deathly sick at the Taste of Chicago and I accidentally saw Fintan's peepee) so it made us think of the Blues Brothers. Thus, he was christened Jake a la the Belushi character. Later we got a 2nd car-- a Jetta-- that was also black and we named him Elwood. Called him Woody bc, I mean, he was a Jetta. That was a stick shift which I never learned to drive. So Jake became my car and I drove him all over the state of Wisconsin to migrant camps. And back & forth btwn Madison & Milwaukee everyday for 1 1/2 yrs. I got hooked on NPR bc of him. I heard 9/11 unfold on the radio driving in Jake. When my marriage fell apart, I called every friend I have from Jake. I escaped to Minnesota to see Allison w/ him. I headed to my new Milwaukee apt w/ a heavy heart and all the possessions I could fit in Jake. And then again down to Chicago-- this time w/ an anxious heart. He's been so patient w/ my attempts at parallel parking in this city. He was broken into and had his radio stolen (felt so violated!). He's been to most states w/ Big Ten schools. Except Ohio. I mean, I love the car-- why take him to Ohio? He's witnesses fights w/ my folks. He hears me cry all the time-- something about being in the car alone w/ my thoughts, etc. And when I'm in a good mood, the poor guy has to put up w/ my singing. Hell, I've hooked up in that car like I was still in high school. Yeah, Jake's seen a lot.

He's been beaten up pretty badly. Rear ended once (no jokes please). Scraped on the side. The AC hasn't worked for a couple of years. This winter the bumper fell off. I was just driving down the street and some guy starts pointing to the front of my car. I pull over-- the bumper's just hanging off. That should have been the end of it. But I got him fixed instead. And it's probably the same thing now-- $460 for an oil change, new tensioner & belt and new battery & cables. He needs rear brakes and has a slow radiator leak. He's old and needs a lot of work. I'm sure that there's some deep psychological reason for me not doing the rational thing and getting a new car. Or it could be that I don't want to start making car payments-- Jake's been paid off for years and as long as the repairs are cheaper than new car payments, it still makes sense to me to keep him. I got into a knock-down-drag-out fight w/ my mom a few weeks ago when she told me that I should get a new car bc it was "part of being a grown up". My response was something along the lines of, "When you start supporting yourself financially and living on your own, come talk to me about being a grown up." I know, I know. And I know that I'll eventually do the rational thing. He's at 191,000 miles. So maybe I'll keep him till 200,000. And then I'll let him retire. Maybe.