A Special Evening With My Special Friend

We've come so far...

Back in the year 2000, my wonderful mother purchased a new car: a grey/beige Toyota Corolla. At the time, I could not have foreseen how close I would get with that car, after all I had a car of my own...

I think my first big trip in the Corolla was August 2000. For my 22nd birthday my Mom took me to one of the greatest places on earth, the Royal London Wax Museum in Victoria! It was there that I took such memorable photos as these:



Almost a year later, June 2001, my mom and I drove together in that car all the way to Fort St. John and Prince George. It was on that trip that I bought my first skateboard (which I used for a whole month!). I also had a chance to drive to Grande Prairie on my own and visit my Dad. But probably the highlight of that trip was on the way home, we were in the Chilliwack area when I finally decided to ask my mom some personal questions I had on my mind for some time. It was a great time of getting to know her, and growing deeper in our relationship.

That summer I worked at Camp Luther. As mentioned, I had my own car, an '85 Chev Cavalier (given to me by Kevin), but it was on it's last legs. At the end of the summer a bunch of counselors planned a road trip to Calgary. There wasn't any room for me, but I really wanted to go, so I asked my mom if I could take the Corolla. Sure enough, she said yes!

Nancy had helped out at camp that last week and I asked her if she wanted to go too. Maybe some of you didn't know this, but I had huge thing for her. Well, on that trip there was one night where Nancy and I drove around Calgary for hours. You see, she wasn't interested in me like that, but I tried my hardest to win her over. I remember clearly at one point being in the Superstore parking lot after all that time, and I finally asked her out. She said yes! But then a few minutes later she says, "Now I feel sick..." Hmm, that one moment became a perfect snapshot for our tumultuous relationship over the next few years. And it happened in the Corolla.

The Cavalier had finally given up the ghost, so I was once again carless. In May 2004, I was hired as the Program Director at Camp Luther for the summer. It was a big step for me and my Mom had a proposal for me. She was upgrading to a different Corolla and asked if I wanted to buy this one. I quickly accepted and thanks to my new job, had it paid off in no time. The Corolla was now MINE!!!

My last year at CBC and at Abby Free Church I used to pick up a bunch of the CBC youth leaders in my Corolla. I would also drive to Ethical Addictions and pick up AJ. He always had a different drink prepared for me. To this day I continue to love Caramel Macchiatos. That year was my favorite time as a youth leader, because of those people. Without a doubt it was the funnest and most interesting group of people I've worked with in youth ministry. I miss those days dearly.

One of those youth leaders was Chanel. I used my Corolla a number of times to woo her. Once I picked her and Jenny up from the skytrain (which was a horrible experience, I went to the wrong station and left them stranded for over an hour). Another time I drove Dustin to the airport, and Chanel to the skytrain...but to be honest I didn't care about driving Dustin, I just wanted to be with Chanel. I would have driven her all the way to Sechelt if she would have let me.

And one day I was driving by CBC. It was pouring rain and I saw Chanel running to class. I pulled over and offered her a ride. It was a short trip, but apparently it was significant. Chanel would later tell me that was the first moment she knew she liked me. We started dating shortly after that. The longest road trip I've ever done in my Corolla was to California with Chanel that summer.

In October 2005 I started working at Cedar Park Church. My first experience as a full-time youth pastor. My first week on the job, the youth welcomed me by decorating my Corolla. It was so encouraging. I love this place and the people so much.

Much time was spent in my Corolla travelling back and forth to Sechelt to be with Chanel. This was a very significant time in my life. Especially the last couple months of our relationship, when my Corolla became the first one to hear all my frustrations and anger. Especially the last day I went to see her. I was going to pick up something I needed that she had, but when I got to the ferry I realized the times had changed. I wouldn't be able to go across and come back in time. So I actually pulled out of the ferry line and called her to say I wasn't coming. I never did see her after that.

I went on a couple road trips in 2007 that were a whole lot of fun! The first was to see Snow Patrol in Seattle with Maia and Megan. We had an absolute blast, despite the fact that I got my second speeding ticket after 10 yrs of perfect driving!

Shortly after that experience I drove out to Calgary with Nooksack to see the Taking Back Sunday/Underoath concert with Kontagious and Hummer. It was such a wholesome trip listening to the Ricky Gervais show. However, at one point in the trip we drove through a tunnel that was pitch black. After we came out Nooksack and I discussed how sketchy that was. Then as we came to another tunnel I sarcastically said to her, "Who knows what we'll find in this tunnel!" Like a second after I said that the car dipped a bit, and went into a slight fishtail due to the slick snow/rain conditions. I tried to correct it but soon was out of control. I slammed into the side of the wall and spun around (once or twice, I can't even remember). Then just as suddenly the car straightened out and I calmly pulled over. Thank God there weren't any other cars around us or we would have had some serious problems. I asked Nooksack if she was okay and she was. Then I thought of my Corolla. I thought it was going to be all ripped up and ruined. When I got out of the car I just kinda chuckled to myself.

At first glance I couldn't see any damage apart from mud splattered on the side, a ding in the fender, and my hood was popped up. It was so surreal!!! There was nothing leaking and there weren't any funny smells so we just continued driving all the way to Calgary and back! When I finally got it checked out I discovered my engine had actually been pushed back by the impact, yikes. I'm so sorry buddy!!! But the autobody place did a remarkable job fixing it!

Wow, that's a lot of stories from my Corolla...and I could even go on longer. Many important events and moments in my life were with that car. And last night we crossed a milestone together. My beloved Corolla crossed the 200,000 km mark.

Dang, we're getting older my friend!