We recently had an automobile accident happen to us. I say
that because we weren’t IN the accident, it just happened. On the street, in
front of our house. When someone slammed into my parked Honda Pilot and totaled
it.
Yes, these things happen, but only to us. Other people have
normal car problems. We have people slamming into ours at crazy speeds and
causing tons of damage.
So, we watched the red Pilot get towed away and we only saw
it again when we went to the tow yard to get all our stuff out of it.
The whole thing was difficult for me from a convenience and
financial standpoint. I liked the red Pilot just fine, it was functional, fit
all our stuff and more importantly, it was PAID FOR. I definitely had not been
thinking of getting rid of it.
But the real value of the red Pilot wasn’t in dollars to
Alex & Maryssa. They went to school one day and when they returned home. NO
RED PILOT. It was GONE. And that was a tragedy.
So we went through a number of feelings and emotions, which
included tears (OF COURSE). Then the talk began of what the new car would be.
Alex insisted on a NEW RED PILOT. Nothing else would do. And
this was her stand for about two weeks while Pete and I contemplated options,
did research, and lots of math.
Finally, after one too many insistences that we “just go out
and bring back a NEW RED PILOT tonight,” I decided it was time for a little
economics lesson, with some finance thrown in. By the time I was done, Alex’s
eyes were glazed over, having been subjected to mathematical formulas and
explanations of loans, payments and dollar amounts larger than she could
imagine.
She finally understood that it just wasn’t that easy. In
fact, it was quite painful for us to go out and bring home a new (used) car.
And time consuming. And expensive (which is mostly where the pain come from.)
In the end, we all learned a lesson about value – of things,
of money, of time, and of health and well-being. After all, no one was injured
in the accident, not even the person who caused it. And that was the most
important thing.
