Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Legacy of the Little White Car

In 2001, when Brian and I were just graduating college and getting married, with not a penny to our names, friends of ours did a hugely generous thing.  They gave us their little white car.  That was our first Honda Accord - our first car at all that belonged outright to us.  We drove that sweet little stick shift for 6 years and loved it.  When we moved to Texas, it stayed behind (a tuckered out A/C couldn't hack the TX heat), and we were forever grateful for the years it gave us. 

Then, less than a year later, the unimaginable happened.  Those same people gave us another little white car, their newer Honda Accord.  I kid you not, two Honda Accords, same people.  Generous beyond measure, these folks have been family to me since I was in high school.  I have been blessed many times over, not just because of the gifts of cars (among other things), but because of my relationship with them.  Go on, you can be jealous that I have friends like this.  Everyone wishes that they had friends like this.  I have learned to knit, quilt, parent, love, accept, cherish, organize, think outside the box, and be generous, many thanks to these people. 

Recently it came time in our family to increase our number of seat belts.  Since we have had 4 children consistently for almost a year now, we decided it was time to increase capacity.  We bought a Honda Odyssey, capacity for 8, and suddenly we had an extra car.  What to do, what to do? 

In the spirit of our good friends' generosity, we could not simply sell this vehicle.  That would not do.  It was very clear that the car needed to go to someone that would benefit from the gift as much as we had.  It sat in our driveway for a month or so as we looked for who to give it to.  Who would be our Sarah and Brian?  Then last week, the answer was as clear as day.  My cousin and his wife, still considered newlyweds, moved to our area on just a wing and a prayer.  He landed a job with a local fire department and she is still looking for a school district with openings for an elementary teacher.  A car would make a BIG difference for them.  A little white car, in particular, would really fit the bill.

So the Legacy of the Little White Car lives on.  We are grateful for the miles it gave us.  It has served us well.  Thank you, friends, who were so generous to us, you have given us the gift of passing along that generosity.  Being able to give the car to someone, just as you had given it to us, has blessed us twice over.  Let me assure you, the new owners of the little white car are just as grateful.  Look what you have started...