I imagine most, if not all of you have named your pets and when you were younger you probably named your dolls. Since I did not play with dolls, I named my stuffed toys. I had Snowy the lamb, Pepe the dachshund and Teddy the bear. They currently reside happily in an old trunk in the corner of the bedroom.
Do any of you name your cars? I have always named mine. I’ve had among others an Alexander, a Jonathan, a Brava, a Lumi, a Gato, a Snow White, and a Ciruela ... and every name had a meaning.
My first car was named after a record album, an LP I loved as a teen – the name of the album was Alessandra. Several years later I read the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach, a short but meaningful story about finding perfection. So, for several years there was a Fiat roaming the streets of New Jersey named Jonathan.
If I were asked to, I could describe every detail of any of these cars today. Alexander, was a baby blue Mustang II with the navy-blue vinyl hardtop. He had white leather interior, soft as butter. I managed to burn up the engine in this, my first car, in two years and since daddy was only buying us each one car, I needed something more within my budget - ‘Enter’ Jonathan, the little red Fiat 128. An adorable shoebox on wheels. No frills – vinyl seats, no AC! Oh and I probably should have learned to ‘drive stick’ before I bought him on a Saturday, since I would have to drive him to summer school in hilly Upper Montclair that Monday. Thankfully, I had a boyfriend with endless patience. We drove up and down hills all weekend. From Paramus to Waldwick and back down again several times - and on Monday I made my way to school at MSU, feeling accomplished & proud!
I’ve often asked myself why I name my cars. After years of introspection, the only explanation I’ve come up with is my “dad connection”. You see cars were very special to my dad. They were proof of his forward progress. He worked his way up from a used Chevy station wagon, to a new Pontiac station wagon, to a sharper Chrysler station wagon and then … to a Gold Cadillac! This was all very symbolic. My dad’s family - his immigrant aunts and uncles looked up to him. He gave them jobs, treated them well and in return, they respected him. They knew he had worked very hard for these status symbols – I could only hope that someday I would feel as accomplished as he felt at the time.
Lo and behold six years ago, whilst thinking about retiring, I wanted a car that would last well into our retirement years. A car that we would be comfortable in, a car that would represent the years that we, my hubby and I, had worked and scrimped and saved.
Care to guess what I am driving today? You’ve probably figured it out by now. She is a 2014 Majestic Plum Cadillac ATS and she represents a secret pact between my dad and me - and I imagine him smiling down from heaven every time I go for a ride. Her name is Ciruela because she is a deep, dark, purple metallic color and Ciruela is Spanish for Plum!