romance

 


this little rubber duck hangs on the driver-side of my mirror. he has taken residence there since i bought my car in 2008. and he was on my car before that. and briefly, my car before that. i've had this LRD since 2000, when i got my license and my first car. he came in a little thank-you-for-flying-virgin-atlantic airline tote i received when i moved to london that same year. for some reason, i held onto him for almost a year before he found a home on my mirror. nelson was not part of that decision in any way, shape or form. that was just something i did and promptly forgot about. that little rubber duck became my personal mascot and good luck charm all rolled into one.

the romance of this LRD has to do with his rescue. in 2008, my old jetta finally signed her do not resuscitate papers and i bought a new car. when i cleaned out the old girl, i took all the usual stuff with me: papers from the glove box, extra cans of oil, jumper cables and of course, the pennies and bobby pins from the change drawer. i walked away not really feeling the sentimental attachment/heart string pull that people describe when they say goodbye to their car. i was just happy to have a new-to-me car with automatic windows and air conditioning.

i had to work on the day the amvets was picking up the jetta, so of course, nelson waited for them for me. a fact that i'm positive i took for granted at the time. i came home from work that day and found my little rubber duck on the kitchen table. i had not even thought about him. he wasn't on my checklist of items not to forget. but my dear, sweet husband spotted that little guy and knew he was something i would want and miss in my new car. it's the stuff like that, it just kills me.