Ode to Toya

MAKE - Toyota

MODEL – Corolla CE

COLOR – Black (not brown, not dark green, not grey…BLACK)

MILEAGE – 170,000

NICKNAME - Toya

ACCIDENTS – too many to count…first accident was IMMEDIATELY after I turned 16. I BARELY hit a car right in front of me on County Line Road (in Colorado) because I did NOT have a fast reaction time, but the business lady didn’t care at all and was in a hurry to get somewhere so it wasn’t an official accident. The first REAL accident was in Slidell, Louisiana on Military Road where a dumb student driver hit me from behind because HER reaction time was even slower than mine. Let’s not forget the other slight fender bender where I let my dear little sister, Kiersten drive to seminary before school and when she was parking the car I made her hit our SEMINARY TEACHER’S 2 WEEK OLD HONDA ACCORD because I was yelling at her. Our bad…but mostly my bad. Then there was the first one in College (Provo, UT) that was “my fault” because I slid on the ice and ran a red light and got T-boned. My car was totaled and the cop had to drive me home (try explaining that one to Lupe). Then there were ALLLLLLL those fender benders where OTHER people hit me at least once a year (on average) or hit and runs where people just hit Toya and left her for dead (but I got them on surveillance camera – booya). Then there was one a year ago where it was 50% my fault (so they said) where I got side swiped and almost died (whew). Oh, and THEN, there was the one where we were about to give Toya to her brand new owner, but then an hour before the exchange, I was driving Toya home from the gym (please note: she was washed and cleaned and ready to go) and as I was SITTING at a light, a GINORMOUS black truck with a DUMB teen girl hit me from behind because she lifted her foot off the brake and was looking at something and then rolled into my bumper. I was about ready to throw my cell phone at her…I couldn’t believe it. What are the odds right? Well, they were NOT in my favor. Luckily the guy who is buying it is a Christian and still wanted Toya so long as we got the bumper replaced. Toya is getting in the shop as we speak on the girl’s dime of course.

TICKETS – This could take even longer to figure out than the number of accidents Toya has been in. If you add up running through stop signs, tickets from accidents, parking tickets in Provo (especially on BYU campus), speeding tickets in Utah AND California, AND GETTING TOWED 2 times in Utah then it adds up to at least 20 different tickets I bet…LOL?

ROAD TRIPS– Wow…this car has taken us from Littleton, Colorado to Slidell, Louisiana, then short trips to Baton Rouge and back to Slidell, then back to Colorado, then to college in Provo, Utah, then weekend trips back to Colorado with roommates, then weekend trips down to Southern California for mini vacations, then from Provo, Utah ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY to Louisville, Kentucky. Wow. This little engine that could made it quite a ways. This little one has moved me from apartment to apartment, house to house, and job to job. Thanks dad for helping me keep it up, replacing my tires, changing my oil, and making sure Toya was safe for me to take on my journeys across the country. Thanks husband for fixing Toya’s handles, changing her oil with UPER SYNTHETIC OIL, and making her nice and shiny. Toya, you have been such a good friend all these years and very dependable. I would drive you ‘til you went out, but I don’t know if I could bear it. I hope you enjoy your new family and new adventures.
Here’s to you Toya! You are Corolla. Hear you ROAR!