The four year anniversary of "Ode to my Mechanic"

I've had a practicality crush on my mechanic Mitch for over four years.

Not many women swoon over the idea of  marrying for the cause of automotive reasonableness. Not many would look into a man's brown eyes and think "You look so... Steady and capable, and no one invoices their wife for marked up car parts or service time- right? So..."

I've spent hours and hours sitting in the brightly lit, oil perfumed waiting room at my mechanics over the six years I've been driving my little Ford Thunderbird. I've made weekend plans there, finished math homework for undergrad education classes there, read dystopian novels  there, and, fortunately for you and my future grandchildren (who will probably be reading this on their transmission devices (thanks for imagining the future for us, Star Wars) ), I have also blogged there.

When I think about all that has happened in the four years since I last wrote about marrying my mechanic (which you can read here), I'm... Silenced. That 18 year old Jazmin had no idea what was going to hit her. She was always sitting at the counter in Bellatazza, looking down Minnesota Avenue and blithely ranting about how Disney princesses are distorting our worldview and dreaming about being a kindergarten teacher.  I loved Mae and Toms and sad classical novels. I was quiet about the things I wanted and shouted the things I thought others wanted to hear. I spent a good chunk of my life thinking  that, if the whole mechanic thing didn't work out, I could be quite happily covenanted to my doctorate degree and adopt kids on my own. When I was 18, I couldn't imagine life outside of Bend,  let alone  in South America.

I am thankful with my whole heart that I'm not 18 anymore, and that God has graciously allowed me to grow,  to experience, and to dream bigger dreams. 22 year old Jazmin is less "outgoing" and far more brave, more adventerous, and she knows what she want in life. I'm thankful to be sore every day, to be spending so much intentional time with friends, to simplify my life down to what I NEED.

Fittingly, the day I found out that my mechanic got married is the same day I found out my car  is loudly and agonizingly dying. It's time for a new dream.

Love,
J.