The car ...

On September 22nd of last year, I said goodbye to Damien's car.  I could barely watch as the man pulled out of my friends' driveway, drove through the gates and out of sight.  A car I could not use, and had no reason to keep, became the possession of a young couple, just starting out together, and in need of a car to share to get them to and from work and school.  I had little to do with the actual showing, test drive, and sale of the car - I thankfully have great friends who happily took care of all of that for me.  Emotionally, it was just too much for me to take care of by myself.  Not to mention that Damien's car had a manual transmission, which I never learned to drive.  So all I had to do was show up and sign the pink slip over to the new owner, and the deal was done.  The man who bought the car had a nephew who was in great need of a reliable car for himself and his girlfriend.  So I really feel that the car went to the right person ... someone who needed it and wanted it, and who was not going to strip it for parts, etc.  I know this would have made Damien happy.  Anyone who knew him knew that he always wanted to do the right thing.  He cared about people, animals, and the world we live in, and always did his best to give when and where he could. 

A couple of weeks ago I was taking Colin for a walk in his stroller around the neighborhood.  It was getting dark, and we were at the intersection of Del Mar and Elden, fairly close to our house.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a maroon-colored PT Cruiser that had just pulled up to the four-way stop.  The hubcaps and roof rack were all too familiar, as was the hum of the engine, so I waited at the corner for the car to drive away.  And sure enough ... the familiar license plate, committed to memory a long time ago ... it was Damien's car!  A sense of calm came over me, and seeing the car again actually brought a smile to my face.  I pointed it out to Colin and said "there goes Daddy's car!".  I knew that the new owners lived somewhere in the neighborhood, so I thought it might be likely that I'd see the car from time to time.  But I should mention that I was having a particularly rough and stressful day.  And I always notice that Damien finds a way to be near me on those bad days.  And that was him on that particular day.