Tough to say goodbye to ‘The Beast’
While cleaning out our old GMC Suburban for the final time — piles of CDs, long-lost Legos, coins and tools — I came across something that made me nostalgic.
It was a copy of the used car dealer’s ad — the advertisement that first drew my attention to the massive vehicle that we called “The Beast.”
The ad described the 1996 Suburban’s features along with this statement:
“Won’t last long.”
At the time, I took that to mean people were clamoring to buy it.
In the end, however, “won’t last long” took on an apocalyptic meaning.
The Beast had 112,000 miles on it when we bought it and in the first few years it served us well.
We engaged the four-wheel drive and crawled up steep trails after taking out our kayaks from Sipsey River or Brushy Creek.
As late as this summer we attached six bicycles to it, filled it to the top with luggage and kids, and drove first to Miami and then to Illinois.
But then The Beast started falling apart.
In hindsight we probably should have hauled it off to the scrap metal recycler after the transmission quit and the air conditioner lost its cool.
But we had to move Addi to the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science in Mobile and figured we needed the cargo space for her belongings. So we decided to patch up the Suburban until we got her to school.
We made it.
Barely.
The Beast died in the school parking lot after a hot six-hour drive to Mobile.
It was a Sunday morning, which meant a rental car, a tow truck and a day’s vacation to wait on the repairs.
It was the final fix.
The salesman who sold us a new vehicle last week helped me clean out the Suburban. He said a lot of people get emotional when they part with their old ride.
“I’ve seen grown people start crying,” he said. “One woman gave her car a long kiss goodbye.”
I considered what he said as I removed the toolbox, jump starter and container of antifreeze, which had become a necessary part of driving a vehicle with 184,000 miles on the odometer.
Then I, too, became teary eyed, gazing upon The Beast one last time and realizing the 42-gallon gas tank was almost full.
