Being attached to things

Two things dear to me broke recently.

The cup...I've had since I was 9 years old. I remember exactly where I bought it (Kunitachi). After moving to Japan as a kid, I quickly learned where the "cute" shops were. I used to stop by the local Hello Kitty shop after school, pondering what cute thing I wanted to get. I was mesmerized. I bought that cup because it pleased me so. And because it was one of my own first purchases, it was special. And I've used it ever since. As an adult, it became my cup for brushing my teeth.

Well, the other day it fell and broke. I knew one day it would happen. Dav kindly glued it back together so I can still enjoy it by putting stuff in it. But it is broken.

Even worse is Java Fu. I have never loved a car so much. I've talked to it, and been protective. It symbolizes when I first visited Dav from Japan - and having started our relationship long-distance, every moment together during our short visits is etched in my mind very clearly. Borrowing his car to shop or meet friends in SF was memorable..."wow, here I am visiting the best person in the world, driving around SF in his Java!" And the sounds Java made, how cool it looked with all its geeky, funky stickers, made me fall in love. Java even has a fan.

It's been on decline for years, so much that when I was pregnant, we took a road trip with Java to Mexico expecting to ditch it there. But Java perked up and made it back in a major way even though we broke its back window by accident (and it rained). Later, I backed out wrongly and Java took a hit. We thought of donating Java then but it still drove; you just had to remember to disconnect the battery when parking the car or else it'd go dead. With mommy brain, I kept forgetting that important step enough that I gave up driving Java. When I used our other jeep car, because it felt safer with Tesla, and was hit, Java came to the rescue and provided transportation until we bought our next car. We both dearly wanted Java to have a retirement as a loved art car at Burning Man. However, its suspension no longer allows more than 2 people to ride so it can’t be done. And most recently, the alternator caught on fire when Dav drove it. So...now Java sits on our street, and runs enough so Dav can move it for street cleaning.

It breaks my heart. Dav is going to give Java for donation to NPR, or if it's not even worth that, Java will go to the junkyard soon. I am so sad because Java is a very symbolic car that has such personality, and totally helped us out when we needed it.

So this is for Java and my cup. I will always remember you!