The Blazer

My first car was a beast. It still would be a beast if someone didn't jack it from my sister's apartment this past August. It was like the Energizer Bunny...it just kept going.

When I turned 16, my parents bought me a 1989 Chevy Blazer...2 door, hunter green with tinted windows. I am not sure how many miles it had on it - but it was 7 years old when I first started driving it. Every now and then I would have problems with it, but I still loved that car. And with it came some great stories.

Occasionally I would run into stuff. But the Blazer would just pick back up and keep trucking along. I backed in to a ditch in my friend's driveway, I ran in to a house...and I ran off the road during a snow storm one Christmas Eve. And it still worked and had minimal scratches. The Blazer got me to and from Birmingham for 4 years. Even though it would shake when you would get it above 80 on the interstate, it still got me there in one piece.

But there were two things that just always made people laugh about my car. One, you could take the keys out while the car was moving. If you don't believe me, I have witnesses. I don't know how or why or what made that work, but it was such a fun joke to play on people.

The other was, you could open my driver's side door with any key. Which probably explains why it got stolen. I can't tell you how many times my absent-minded self would lock my keys in my car, and all it would take would be to use somebody's keys to open the door. On more than one occasion, I had to ask a total stranger for their keys...they would be confused and amazed all at the same time.

Once I got another car, my sister was given the Blazer. It almost got her through 3 years of college, but it got stolen this past August. I almost cried when she told me. And being in the middle of winter, I really find myself missing it even more...especially after last weekend's snow and ice show. The Blazer and I could dominate some snowy roads. It was such a great first car.