Transitions: A Total Loss...

Life Rewind

Surprise! The year was 2002 around mid-summer or early fall. I was at the end of my work shift when my husband called stating he had something to show me. So for the sake of curiosity, I had to check out whatever was outside the Ft. McNair gates. There it was...the crimson red four door 1999 Honda CRV. Surprised yes, but this was not the first time being surprised by a vehicle purchase! What made this a special surprise was that crimson red was to be our first family car. We were expecting our first light, and the two door car I was driving back then was not going to cut it!

Do you remember your first car? Mine was a 1988 red manual shift Toyota Tercel that I paid about $900 dollars. It had a tricked out ignition, in which I could take my keys out and the car would still run! Yeah I had fun with that car, but I don't recommend driving down Route 1 with your keys hanging outside your car door! I had heat, but no air conditioning! Go figure, but it was my first all cash car purchase. The hubby had the air conditioning, but no heat in his first BMW manual shift car! Again go figure!

I reminiscence about our first two cars, because they were of value to us individually. We had our cars before we met. Both cars unfortunately had to be donated, because they were passed their prime. But this isn't about those first two cars, it's about crimson red our first family car together. This is about a "Hit and Run," which lead to a "Total Loss." The timeline goes a little something like this:

It's  May 31, 2017, and I have just dropped the girls off at school. Just after 9:00 am I receive a call from my husband, and he is very upset. He has walked to crimson red, which is parked right in front of the house. It's the first car parked in the designated residential street parking zone, and parked behind it is a neighbor's taxi. After putting his work bag and lunch bag in the trunk, my husband looks down at the back driver's side bumper of the CRV. Crimson red had been hit, and the back wheel and axle have been bent. Our neighbor's side view mirror had been swiped too. The police came to check out the damage, take pictures, and hand my husband the card with the report number. Sound familiar?

The back left side damaged.
© May 2017

The car could not be driven. A claim was filed with our insurance company the same day. Because we didn't have Collision coverage (crimson red was an older vehicle), we were stuck with paying the deductible. The claim was filed under the Uninsured Motorist Property Damage portion of our insurance coverage. Crimson red would be parked for the next two months. This was so disappointing, for we needed both vehicles for our family. We still had school, work, after school activities, appointments, and weekend activities that some times involved two separate vehicles. What made the situation worse was just a few weeks earlier there was the shattering of the Pilot's window (the other family car). Like in my recent post, I was beginning to wonder if this was a sign.

Now Press Forward

Crimson Red on it's way to the shop.
© July 2017

 This was not exactly the scene I had wanted to see. Crimson red   was being hauled off to the collision auto body shop that our   insurance company deals with. Had we known we didn't need to   pay the deductible up front, we would have had crimson red hauled away two months before. It's now July, and we had managed the logistics of using one vehicle. Once we understood the process of getting the car evaluated by the shop, all we could do was wait. Waiting was not easy, for your mind begins to wonder. I began wondering on the day the car was hauled away if it would be the last day seeing crimson red. It turns out it was the last day the car would be parked in the neighborhood. 

Getting the call and reading the email from our insurance company was devastating. Crimson red was deemed a "total loss." It would cost more to fix than the car was worth. We had to make arrangements with the shop to clean out the car and remove the tags. It didn't hit me until the day we drove to the shop. As we began sorting items we were taking or throwing away, the tears started to flow. Damn. I didn't want to be cleaning out this vehicle. We should have been coming to pick up crimson red with its newly fixed bumper, wheel, and axle. 

Crimson red was paid off years ago (just like the Pilot). We had the title. At that point, I was in mourning. My husband did his best to console me. I cried, because this was the first car we brought our first light home in. I was reminiscing about the old times. Crimson red was my vehicle until we bought the Pilot when we were expecting our second light. Then crimson red became my husband's ride. Crimson red had the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. tags on the back (hence the vehicle's name).

 A year has past, and we have managed without crimson red. Although another car would be nice, paying another car note isn't. We never found out who did the hit and run. Coward. This person didn't care. The damage was done in the wee hours of the morning in the cover of darkness. We would have rather gotten the car fixed instead of the check. But I must thank God that my husband was not in the car at the time. If you have read my last post, then you know about the fear I had for my family. The G-unit. We are just that...a family unit. Shattered windows and a total loss in a year can rattle your faith. We are still here pressing forward, still believing, and still keeping the Faith.  

Kaisha

Blog post written by Kaisha Goring
Copyright © August 9, 2018
Photos courtesy of Kaisha Goring
All Rights Reserved.