O P I N IO N
THE URBAN HIPPIE
By Irene Martin
Next month is my 67th birthday ( 6 7! ) and in my almost 67 years I have had a multitude of cars. I’ve never had a new car, all my cars were used. Some of them more used than others! I’ve also been blessed to have been gifted several cars over the years and I myself have passed on a few cars to people who needed them after I no longer did. In fact my current ride, Bertha, is a van that was gifted to me by my two besties, Carol and Jim. You may have heard of them. Anyway this column is about a particular car that was gifted to me at a particular time in history that honestly saved my sanity and is now a part of our family lore.
I remember my dear friend Mary Ann calling me and asking me what the car situation was at Far Out Farm – our house’s nickname. Mary Ann has known me for decades and knows that we often have more people than running vehicles that need to get to various jobs. I told her we can always use anything with a motor and four good tires and would happily accept whatever she wanted to donate to us. She said something like “Oh, it’s just Jamie’s old red Toyota. It’s been kept in the garage and we don’t drive it enough to pay for the garage rental. We looked at selling it online and it’s not worth the trouble. So thought we would see if you needed it.”
I was thrilled and said “of course” and a million thank yous as we were actually down a vehicle at that time. So I took the train over to Wayne, PA, to pick up the car, hang out with Jamie and Mary Ann and thank them profusely for their generosity. After I get there they say okay let’s go get the car and I stand out front with Marianne while Jamie walked down to the garage where the car was stored. Soon I hear the Grateful Dead playing from a car radio and this gorgeous 2005 Red Toyota Solara convertible with a black top comes cruising up the driveway and parks in front of me. Sitting behind the wheel grinning is Jamie and Mary Ann is standing next to me and, honestly, it felt like my parents presenting me with my first new car, it was that exciting a moment to all of us. It turns out this gorgeous creature’s name was Jessica because she was red like Jessica Rabbit and had a cute rear end. I said “and Jessica she will remain!” I can’t tell you how excited, overwhelmed and grateful I was driving that beautiful car home that day. I’m not at all a car person. To me they’re just a convenience. But I have to say I fell in love with that car, our Jessica.
This was in 2020 just when COVID had started and everything was shutting down. I was a nervous wreck going anywhere as I’m not in the best of health and was pretty sure I was not going to make it through this worldwide pandemic. Being stuck inside with the same people all the time was stressful for everybody and a lot of families and marriages were stressed to the brink. What Jessica did for me was to give me wings to fly. When cabin fever got too bad or I just needed some space I would get in my beautiful red convertible and hit the road. Jessica and I covered so many Pennsylvania roads on our endless drives. A favorite route was River Road up through Washington’s Crossing State Park, New Hope, and all the way up to Easton, PA, via 611. Then I would turn around and drive all the way home again. And always, as we started one of our adventures, I would play the Allman Brothers “Jessica,” put the top down and just let everything else go.
Sometimes the hubs would come with me and we would stop for lunch somewhere. Sometimes I would take my dogs up to the Crossing put the top down and drive slowly around the loop in the woods to see what they thought of it. Until one day my crazy pup Rosie actually jumped from the passenger seat where she was sitting over my head out of the car to go after a chipmunk. So after that, no more dog cruises with the top down. I invited friends and family on drives as we were all getting various degrees of cabin fever and the convertible allowed the sun and fresh air in, and the germs out. When my step-sons family relocated from Houston, TX, to just outside of Atlantic City, NJ, I got my grand girls acquainted with their new state by driving them around Atlantic City with the top down and pointed out all of the streets whose names were on the Monopoly board. One of their Dad’s favorite games when he was younger.
Jessica also made it possible for the hubs and I to see our grand girls in Florida, my step daughter’s family. The hubs and I drove down and back, during COVID-19. It was easier and safer than flying and I got to drive my Florida girls around with the top down and listen to music. One of my favorite memories of that trip is our granddaughter, Ava ,belting out “This Girl is on Fire” along with the radio while her older sister, Ella, giggled like crazy at her theatrics.
Eventually COVID eased and I drove Jessica everywhere for more mundane things like work, groceries, errands. I’ve never had great eyesight and am actually partially blind in one eye. Jessica’s long front end, tiny back window in the convertible top made driving a real challenge for me, especially turning corners and parking. After curb surfing my way to two expensive new tires within a year, and more than a few near misses because of my eyes and her blind spots I realized I didn’t feel like I could see well enough to drive her anymore and traded cars with my son until I got my current van, Bertha. Jessica really was a young person’s car and I was no longer a young person.
My son took excellent care of Jessica and kept her clean inside and out and in perfect running condition. She was no longer loaded with kids stickers, pieces of Legos and McDonald’s French fries all over the floor. Once again she looked like the gorgeous sports car she was meant to be. We expected him to be driving Jessica for years as she was still under 100K and he took such good care of her. So it was a genuine heartbreak when Jessica got rear ended one day on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, her cute little car bum was a mess. My son was able to drive her home from the accident and for a brief period we thought she would be fixed. But it turned out the repairs were more than the car’s value, so she was declared totaled. End of story. Almost…
It turns out Jessica was in excellent shape for a car of her age, now 25 years old, and had just hit 100k in miles. So the other driver’s insurance company issued me a check for the repair costs. I was stunned. Really!? We’re not just screwed out of a car, you’re sending us money? And indeed they did!
So far the money has paid for many much needed and long delayed things. Like my broken kitchen dishwasher, full of mold, to finally be replaced after 5 years, Rosie to the vet for the first time in three years, a new cell phone for me that actually works. And so on. I’ve never come out on the positive side after owning any car. We usually love them to death – you have to when you don’t have a lot of money for your vehicles. Jessica was that rare thing, the gift that keeps on giving. My cup does truly runneth over.
My son and I were talking about Jessica the other night and how we both felt sad for her, a car! How silly is that, lol! But you see, she was so much more than a car and now is forever a part of our family lore.
So this column is special thank you to Maryann and Jamie for the wonderful and generous gift that was Jessica. She got out of the garage and had the time of her life with us and we are forever grateful.
And when you hear the song “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers, picture an old hippy gal, top down, cruising all over the back roads of Pennsylvania and thanking her lucky stars for the gift that got her through the Pandemic and onward.
Peace 