The following is according to my understanding.<\/p>\n
\nBtw: I refer to the vehicle herein both as a car and a Jeep.<\/p>\n
\nI mention back in my post from July 22, 2025,<\/a> that we had a 2007 Jeep Liberty that we loved. It was T-boned, then written off, back in the fall of 2024.<\/p>\n \nI didn’t want to discuss this back then, because it was too fresh. However, I’d gotten quite attached to that Jeep. I didn’t drive it much, because it was my son’s daily driver, and also because the van is better for errands. Yet, I’d worked on it quite a bit, and it was a nice-looking car too. It was far from new, but somehow that made it even more lovable.<\/p>\n \nAfter the accident, we were told where the Jeep had been towed, and when we could go and remove personal property from it. Part of me didn’t want to go, because I knew it would be tough, but of course I had to. My wife set it up.<\/p>\n \nWhen possible, my wife and I do these kinds of things together. We found directions online to the auto wrecker’s the night before. Then, the next day, my wife came home from work to pick me up. Directions in hand, I got in the van and we started off for the wrecker’s.<\/p>\n \nThe accident had happened in another town, about 50km from where we live. Therefore, the auto wrecker that had been called was from that town, so not one we knew. We found it, but only because we had detailed directions.<\/p>\n \nLike I’ve found typical at wrecking yards, the staff were at first rather distant, holding us at arm’s length. Why were we there? What vehicle was this regarding? Did we have a key to that vehicle? Pretty quickly they decided that our answers made sense, so became much friendlier. A couple of them, along with a bona fide junkyard dog, accompanied us out back to the yard, where the new arrivals were parked.<\/p>\n \nI could see our Jeep, parked with its back hatch facing us. We walked up to it. As I recall, once we got there, and the attendants could see our connection to the Jeep, they left us and went back to the office.<\/p>\n \nYou could see the Jeep had done its job, protecting its driver from the accident. The driver’s side was so damaged you couldn’t open the door. The passenger side I could get into, and retrieved what few belongings had been left in the console, the glove compartment, etc. There wasn’t much. It had been my son’s daily driver, and he doesn’t leave stuff in his car. Yet, there were a few things.<\/p>\n \nThe elephant in the room was that this car was like a member of the family. We had owned it since summer 2018 – over five years. Both my sons had used it as a daily driver in their turn. I’d worked on it. In fact, although I had some background mechanical training, a lot of my practical knowledge comes from working on that car.<\/p>\n \nStanding next to the Jeep in the wrecker’s back parking lot, I realized it might be the last time I saw it. Yet, it still smelled the same when I opened to the door and leaned over the seat. It was easy to imagine once again driving it, somehow.<\/p>\n \nBecause of how damaged it was, it wasn’t easy to search the Jeep. In such a situation one needs to look for what’s been forgotten as well as what one expects. Therefore, I had to search the back seats and the cargo area behind them, as well as the driver’s area. There were some emergency supplies and clothes to retrieve, along with some paperwork. My wife, standing behind the car, held a bag, wherein she put the items as I brought them. I think it took about 35 minutes to go through the Jeep thoroughly. With no further reason to be there, it was time to go.<\/p>\n \nI felt really bad, abandoning the Jeep there. It had served us faithfully for five years, then been wrecked protecting my son from a collision. Now, we were walking away from it, leaving it among other wrecked cars.<\/p>\n \nI didn’t know the right thing to do. I think I wanted to cry, but I maintained my composure. I know my wife doesn’t want to put up with some sobbing, over-dramatic man who is supposed to be in his late fifties but acts like a child. Therefore, I just turned around and walked back to the office with my wife.<\/p>\n \nHalfway back, the junkyard dog met us. He seemed completely harmless, and very friendly, but the attendants told us he was tough in certain circumstances. I think they probably all were, but not with us. They could see we were saying goodbye to a friend.<\/p>\n \nOut in the world, I think lots of people know me as a pretty cold fish. However, even writing this article, I’ve got tears in my eyes. I know cars aren’t alive and all that (yeah, yeah, yeah). Thank God they’re not, with how people use them.<\/p>\nJack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane,<\/a> Campbell River, BC.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Self-tutoring about cars and events of the past: the tutor recalls a tough one… The following is according to my understanding. Btw: I refer to the vehicle herein both as a car and a Jeep. I mention back in my …<\/p>\n