My first car...

I remember my first ever car. 

It was a cream coloured beat up Volkswagen Beetle, previously owned by my sister. I had been borrowing it since I was an undergrad, but once I graduated, my sister let me have it for keeps. I've got a picture below, although frankly, the only thing the picture has in common with my car is the colour and even that is not exact. Mine had  more rusty brown areas than cream!

I was so proud of that car and felt extremely uber-cool driving it. Never mind the bodywork falling apart or the fact that there was no air-conditioning. My major pleasure came from the fact that it was mine and I could go anywhere I wanted, anytime! (The naivete that comes with youth!)
If I'm honest, my Beetle looked more like this one below. It was a panel beaters cash cow, but to me, it was the swankiest sports-car on the planet.

A couple of years later, it was sold to an auto-mechanic and I upgraded to a Toyota Tercel. That, became my new love. It was much newer than the Beetle. (I got the Beetle when it was 14 years old and the Tercel when it was 10 years old!). It was a lovely shade of red and I called it 'The fusion of man and machine!' It looked similar to this, but with 4 doors.

The Fusion of Man and Machine

I kept this car until we started the Globetrotting lifestyle and subsequently moved abroad. (We're pretty good at recycling cars in my country and I know those 2 cars were taken apart and sold as spare parts to other owners)

My teenager has started asking about which car she will get when she is old enough to drive and when she can have her first 'unofficial' driving lesson. (Because she is in the States, she will get to legally drive a car 1 or 2 years before her mates back in England). It scares me to listen to 'my baby' ask that question, even though I know we've still got a couple or more years to go! 

I know I am not alone as a parent to feel this way.....