Em and Big Red

My youngest sister, Emily, is just finishing her first semester at college. The last semester has been great - we have talked on the phone more than we ever have in our lives. She has a cell phone now and a lot of down time while walking home from class, so she gives me a call and we chat while she walks. We are 12 years apart, and I left for college when she was six years old. I always spent my summers away from home working or taking a summer course, and then I moved across the country. So we haven't spent a significant amount of time together for a very long time. But now we talk all the time, and she is coming to spend May with me. It's like finding a new friend.

The other day, Em and I were talking and she mentioned that she is driving my old college car for a few weeks. This is an amazing car. When I started my junior year of college, I bought a little red four door 1988 Mercury Tracer. It was a cute little thing, I called it Big Red, and it was already 10 years old. Four years later, I got a job and a commuter car, and Becca took over the care of Big Red. Now Emily is driving it for a few weeks until it is sold. Big Red has not been without his quirks and issues (including a time when I could not get in or out of the driver's side door), but I am quite impressed that the little thing lasted from my college days to Em's.