Associations: My car is my life

One place that I find I have many associations with is my car. It seems odd to say so, but I always feel that I spend most of my day in my car driving from school, to work, to a friends, or to home. My home is about 30 minutes away from school and work and most of my friends, so I spend a lot of time reflecting to myself as I drive. I typically just turn on music and drive, yet sometimes I turn the radio down and let my mind wander as I pass certain places or certain things come to mind. I fortunately have never been in any accidents or never had any major problems go wrong with my car since I've had it for about 7 years now. It sounds so strange to say I have an attachment to my car, but I truly feel that I do. I bought the car on my own just before I turned sixteen for $3,500. It was a 5-speed manual and I didn't even know how to drive it or even have my license. But from then on I began teaching myself how to drive, driving myself and friends around, sneaking out on weekends by rolling my car down the hill in neutral, and picking up bad habits like eating and texting while driving. Not a day goes by that I don't use my car; I've even given "her" a name. But whenever I get into my car I think about all the things that have happened while I've had it. I think about the fights I've had with friends, boyfriends, and parents and how sometimes my outlet was to just get outside and sit in my car with music on or just think to myself. I think about all the fun places I've gone with friends, squishing teammates into my car for soccer practice, the very first time I stalled my car while driving, and how I continue to pollute the environment with my excessive driving. I spend about $50 a week on gas just so I can have something to do on the weekends or just to get to work and school. This doesn't seem to bother at all because my car gives me the freedom to do these things on my own. When I drive, I can reflect on things about the past, the day, and things I want to do or see in the future. It's very strange how I feel about my car and that my car is the one place I make most of my associations, but I appreciate myself for being able to buy my own car, keep her in one piece, and I pride myself on that ability to keep doing so. Many things in my life have happened or changed while I've had my car and sometimes memories are my car just being there, but I've come to the realization that soon I'll need to get a new car because she's about 15 years old and isn't looking so good on the inside and out. But until the day comes where the car doesn't run anymore, I'll continue to drive from place to place everyday thinking about what it has done for me.