Your Smiling Face

Oil on board, 12x12, Black floater frame
 
 
I was 19 when I bought my first car.
 
I found it listed in the Suburban and Wayne Times.
 
It was a brown, 5 speed Volkswagen Jetta with 65,000 miles, black cloth interior, and a detachable Blaupunkt stereo with a cassette player.  I felt like I hit the lottery.  It was THE car!
 
My dad, boyfriend, and I took a road trip to New Jersey to see it.
 
It was garage kept and well loved.  As soon as I sat in the driver’s seat, I was sold.
 
I couldn’t wait to put my Villanova sticker in the back window and just drive!!
 
That car was my sidekick for 6 years. 
 
It held all my cassette tapes in a box: James Taylor, Earth Wind and Fire, Neil Diamond, The Fix, The Go – Go’s, Duran Duran, U2, The Police, Hall & Oates, Cool & The Gang, Tears for Fears, etc…
 
It held the scattered days of my late teens and early 20’s.  Racing to class and work with the trunk filled with half of my life’s possessions.
 
It held my giant dog Pete, a 95 lb. shepherd/collie mix.  I can still see his head out the back window and hair blowing in the wind.
 
It held the tender days of the new relationship with my boyfriend, who became my forever Valentine.
 
“Whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself.
Because I love you, yes I do.”
 
That was 34 years ago.
 
And it seems like yesterday.
 
 
Music reference: Your Smiling Face, James Taylor