Out with the old

We donated our old Volvo yesterday.  We had it for four years, ever since my uncle and aunt so generously gifted it to us when they got a new car of their own.  We were just barely pregnant with Mateo and they didn't know it yet, but we were going to need another car and the Volvo came to us just at the right time.  It has been a great car for us, and extremely reliable despite its high mileage. 

We knew our time with it was coming to an end when the headliner (fabric lining on the top of the inside of the car) started to come off and it would have cost more than the car was worth to fix it.  Then, when we decided to buy our swagger wagon, it was really time to let the Volvo go.  We tried to find someone to give it to, in the interests of paying it forward, but had no luck.  So, we went with donating it and decided on the Oregon Food Bank.  With the exception of having to go to the DMV to fill out a couple of forms, the process was easy and quick. 

The thing I wasn't expecting was how sad the kids would be so see the old car go.  We had at least two weeks with the new van before the Volvo went away, so I thought the transition would be easy, but they were both sad and upset when it finally went away on the tow truck.  I guess I should have expected it, especially remembering how I felt when my parents sold their old car when I was a kid.  Still, I wish I had thought to prepare them better.  Mateo wanted to spend the rest of the morning intermittently telling the story of how we got the Volvo and how we decided to give it away.   He's all about storytelling to process things.  Good to remember.

Anyway, as part of them saying goodbye to the car, I got this photo.  I thought it was a perfect image for saying out with the old and in with the new!