The Bugley and '00

If you know me, then you know I am still driving the black Volkswagen Beetle that I received new on my 16th birthday.  The little Bugley (affectionately termed by John, a knockoff of Bentley) is about four miles shy of rolling over the 100,000 mile mark today, which we will probably hit on our ride home today.  That's pretty huge.  We have been through a lot together, that car and I, and I will have to say that I am attached and a bit sentimental about her, as we have traveled 100,000 miles together.  If she wrote a tell all, I would be in trouble.  I think I am now the only person out of my friends who is still driving their first car.  John's car is actually older than the Bug, but it has not been in his possession as long.  (I would like to one day devote an entire post to John's high school ride--but I would need pictures!  Two words:  PURPLE, DRAGON)  We like to say that we are into vintage things!

Not my exact car, but I am diggin' the European tag on front.

The Bug's milestone has caused me to consider my 16th birthday, and the fact that as we close on 2009, we are closing on a decade.  The 00's.  I don't think I had even realized that until I saw this month's Rolling Stone cover (which I can't find a picture of) in which the two O's are removed from Rolling Stone to symoblize '00 in the center of the page.

I turned 16 on September 1, 2001, ten days before September 11, 2001.  We all know what happened that day, and that nothing has ever be the same.  If you look at pictures of me on that day, I have on black stretch pants and a cap sleeved tee emblazoned with beads that read NEW YORK.  Weird, huh?  A lot happens over the course of ten years, in your personal life and in the world.  I entered high school, held my breath on New Year's Eve to see if Y2K was going to blow me up, started dating, fell in "love" for the first time, turned 16, had a few boyfriends, went to Prom, rode a few dirt roads, made memories with my friends, graduated from high school, went to Auburn for four crazy years, dated some more, majored in English and graduated, found John (he was right under my nose), went to law school for 5 minutes, quit law school, got first real job, moved to Birmingham, traveled across and around the country a few times...  In the middle of it all, buried two family members, America went to war, I voted in my first presidential election, began to form my own opinions about the world, went to Europe, my mom took a risk and made a midlife career change, my dad lost his job and showed our family what true grit really means, our country elected their first black president, a woman gave him a run for his money, my friends started getting married, and Michael Jackson died... It was this crazy whirlwind and I've left out a million other things, but those stand out and I became an adult--the '00 were my Coming of Age era on the timeline of my life.  I made a thousand mistakes and a thousand perfect decisions that got me where I am today and for whatever reason, it's where I am supposed to be because I believe in fate.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the next decade brings.