A New (to us) Car!!!

I always loved that announcement on the Price is Right. For every other prize, the announcer would use a fairly upbeat and perky voice but there was fanfare for a new car. Imagine, "in this prize package, you'll receive a washer and dryer set, a ironing board, an exotic ceramic tiger and (pregnant pause) A NEW CAR!!!" You know what I'm talking about. Then there was the trumpet music and the close up shot on the contestant's face where (s)he would be overwhelmed with joy at the thought of a new car.

My friend Julia has called our accident a blessing in disguise. As far as accidents go, we've been incredibly fortunate. We've got a newer model of our old car with better fuel efficiency. Hubby gets to rebuild his computer and a couple of his camera lenses because he had them in the trunk of our car. It is time consuming to buy all that stuff, but how great is it that we are able to replace those broken items. Additionally, I think we've been allowed to have a redo of a really difficult learning experience in buying our first new car 9 years ago. (We were young, naive, and paid too much money. They really took advantage of us and I'm still smarting from the experience.) This time, we walked out on 2 car dealerships when we even suspected mind games -- making us wait to give us a counter offer or even an angry speech from one manager about how we were calling him a liar and how he needs to feed his kids too. It really felt empowering to leave and have them scrambling to get us back to talk. Yay on Hubby. Once he left, we never went back.

We ultimately didn't get our car from a dealership. We got it from World Peace on the Internet -- Craigslist.

After we were just about worn out from visiting a total of 5 dealerships in the span of 3 days, we met up with the sellers who were a husband and wife. They were selling their 2007 Honda Odyssey Touring. We met them with all our 3 kids in tow (something I swore I would never do again: shop for cars with the kids with me). The sun had already gone down but we met in the parking lot of a Target store. It was pretty dark so when I was asked the next day about what color the van was, I said that I thought it was gold with tan interior. It actually turned out to be silver with gray. Oops. It was clear that this couple really loved the car. The husband recounted how he and his boys (5 & 8 years old) would sit in the back seat and play video games on the DVD screen while waiting for his wife. She told me that the DVD player was one last bastion of sanity if the kids were being loud in the back seat. I asked her why they were selling. I suspected the rising oil prices and all. She told me instead that she became ill in the last year and was forced to stop working. She said they've had to change the financial obligations that they can meet.

We chatted more and commiserated about buying a car from a dealership. We talked about how she really raked the dealership over the coals when they bought this car so I had a little vicarious thrill that she made that dealership squirm. When we got down to making our offer, Hubby offered our max and then a little more over that because the car was absolutely pristine. They called us on our way back home and told us that they'd accepted our offer.

Today we went to pick up the car. My mother wants me to have the car blessed by our priest, but part of me feels a little uneasy doing that. I'm not sure my hubby would approve. Instead, I carried the bottle of holy water from Lourdes and Fatima that my mother brought home from her pilgrimage. Mom got the water from the Lourdes spring and house well water of the children of the Fatima apparitions, and mixed them for me. I figured I could sprinkle it on the car before we rode in it.

We met at their house. Her husband was working so it was just her and her 2 boys. She brought us inside the house to sign a bill of sale. Lil'T was fascinated by their little French bulldog. It was clear when we went back outside that her boys were very disappointed by this transaction. I invited her older son to go inside and say good-bye. Instead he kind of shook his head and walked away. She said that she thought she might cry. She said that her husband was reluctant to put the car mats into the sale because he knew he wanted to buy another Odyssey when all of this (her illness) was over.

At that point, I knew that if I didn't do this, I would regret it later. So I reached into my purse and pulled out my bottle of the Lourdes/Fatima water. I said, "You might think I'm a kook but here goes anyway. I'm Catholic and I don't know what religious community you belong to, but this is water from Fatima & Lourdes. This water has healing properties and I know that you've been ill. Could I bless you with it?" She consented. I hope that I wasn't too much on the crazy side, but I just thought that if anyone would understand what it must be like for a mother to be faced with losing the chance to watch her sons grow, it would be our Blessed Mother, right? I pray that our Blessed Mother will intercede so she will be healed of her illness. I hugged her afterwards and assured her that this all will pass and she'd be tooling around in a brand new Odyssey in no time. I admit, I cried as I drove away. I cannot imagine what they're going through.

And so we have a new to us car. And I am grateful for it. And I'm happy to have spent the money for it because I know that this family was helped by it. And maybe I was meant to go there with the bottle from Lourdes & Fatima to bless her so she will be healed. It feels good to have bought the car from that family.

Hey, do me a favor. Keep this family in your prayers. Thanks.