She and I have been through some tough times. We’ve traveled a lot of miles together. After my wife asked for a divorce, I lost my house, my contact with my kids became intermittent, I saw my community of friends less often, but she was always there for me. We’ve been together for almost a decade now.

Yesterday, I had to drop her off. Today, when I went to pick her up, I had a surprising sense of relief and gratitude. I didn’t know I felt that way about her. My friend, my faithful companion, she was back in my life. Sometimes it feels as if she’s been the only stable thing in my life these past few years.

She is special to me. My car…my Honda.

(I write this with a humorous intent, of course, but it does reveal a deeper truth, like humor often does. Our lives have been so disrupted, and there are so a few things that are stable in this post-divorce phase. I was surprised to realize how much a car meant to me in that context.)