My First Car

Everyone should remember their first car. However, for me, how I received my first car is quite memorable...well, for me at least. I have had three cars in my life so far and each one has a story on how I received them.

I cannot recall the date exactly, but it was Spring Semester of 2001; my sophomore year of high school. According to the creation date of photos that I have of the car, it had to be before March 2001. I believe that my Dad told me to research a vehicle that I would like to have. I remember we were looking at cars on the internet. I can recall that I told him "I don't want a Mustang, there is too many of them." (Little did I know that there are many Eclipses on the road) Mom would not let me get a red car due to the myth that they receive more tickets or appear that their velocity is faster than its true speed. I remember I said I wanted a moonroof and two doors but just about any color would do. At first I wanted a Ford Probe but they ceased production in 1997 and Dad wanted to get a brand spanking new car (where did the phrase 'brand spanking new' come from, I do not know).

I did not really think about a car for the next few days (maybe weeks) but I remember my Mom picked me up from school one day in the big brown van that we had. She told me that she had to stop by the office because she had to meet a client. At that time Mom and Dad had a store. Mom operated Native American Craft store and Dad ran a Tax Return business (in the same building). Dad was at the store and I cannot remember how long the wait was, but I was standing at the counter watching the traffic outside the window. Two cars pulled up. One was a Tampa Blue Pearl Mitsubishi Eclipse GS (2.4 liter, 4 cylinder, 150hp). "Dad, that's the car we looked at on-line!" I exclaimed. I think Dad said "Yes, and it's yours."

I ran outside and the dealer got out and I asked him if I could sit in it. He told me it is yours so go ahead. He went inside to talk to Dad and the other car was the dealers wife to take him back to the city.

Later I found out that Dad bought the car sight unseen and the dealer delivered it from the big city that was about 30 miles away. He did everything via the telephone and fax machine. It is amazing what good credit does for you. I did not get to drive the car home that day. It took a couple of weeks before Mom let me drive alone. The first time I drove alone was to go to the grocery store to get groceries. Eric Carmen's "All By Myself" came on the radio while I drove to the store. It was not helpful, haha.

I named my car Kalisto; an alternate spelling of Callisto. If you are into astronomy, you will know that Callisto is a moon of Jupiter; if you are not into astronomy, then you learned something new today. Callisto was also a nyph in Greek mythology.

I loved that car. It will always have a place in my heart.