Our car just reached the 100,000 mile mark. This is the second car we have taken to that mark.

Why is this significant?

To me it is significant because we live in a throw-away society. It is so easy to upgrade to the latest model and cast aside a perfectly functional product.

But it is also significant because when we bought that car in 2014 we had no idea where it would take us.

We bought that car when my daughter was merely 2 months old. We had no idea 6 months later we would be driving it across the country to move to Arizona.

We had no idea it would take us to the Grand Canyon.

This car has taken us on our first camping trip, our first beach trip, our first cave trip.

It has taken us to nearly every trail head in the greater Phoenix area.

It has picked up visitors coming to Arizona and taken us back home to Illinois.

It has been covered in crushed food, milk, melted crayons, and hundreds of stickers.

It has safely carried our family around town and safely carried my husband to work.

It has hauled boxes, bed frames, and tons of other miscellaneous IKEA furniture.

It has needed repairs and tires along the way.

But keeping and maintaining it a long time has created countless memories.

We went to an empty parking lot to drive the last mile to get to 100,000. The kids got to sit up front with us as the numbers changed.

Watching that number change, I felt our resiliency.

Every mile was not fun, quiet, or clean. But each one was part of the journey.

I am glad we did not cast the Versa aside for something “better.”

We would have missed all those miles along the way.

-Brittany