End of an Era

I drove the first bug, Volks Wagen, for my home health company in spring of 2003. A lime green beetle, a diesel, sporting daisies and bubbles. I called my husband, asking him if he could hear the engine. Those cell phones just don't transmit sound well, because he couldn't and he didn't share in my excitement. Those days I had to drive into the office in Youngstown, pick up the bug every day and drive it home. One evening in the summer, my boss suggested I drive it home to show my girls.
Family  issues came up in the fall of 2004 and I left Senior Independence for a little over a year. I needed to work closer to home for my girls and my mother. This is another story for another time.
Spring time came around again in 2006. My thoughts wandered to the little green beetle. I thought of getting my birthday paid holiday and a few other perks at SI, that I didn't have at the present job. But gas prices were climbing and my daughter needed a car. Easter time, I stopped in at Fifth Ave. to see how the old gang was doing. They were doing well. I left with, "Call me, if you need a nurse."
Two weeks later, Denise called me as I was in a house on Maple Road, just south of business 62. I was so excited. I could go back. They had a need for a nurse.
The best news of this all, the administrator told me I could drive the VW from home. So for almost six years now I have been driving a green car with daisies and bubbles. They switched to regular gas, instead of diesel. They went to a more metallic green. But the car never stopped people from noticing it, provoking smiles from young and old. Some nurses called it the clown car. But the children waved. I felt I was spreading cheer.
The patients loved seeing that car pull in their driveway. We even had a commercial with the bug in in. If I ever figure all this computer stuff out, I could link the VHS of it. I was even in it.
We pulled in this evening after returning it. The driveway empty and lonely waited for us. Two cars left, one returned.
Like all good things, this had to end some day. I won't go into reasons the company is not leasing VW's any more. The Nissans are shiny and blue. No daisies. Our logo is on the side door. They seem sturdy to drive through the snow. I'm sadder than I thought I would be, as this past week I basked in smiles from other cars for the last time.