I am a Honda Accord
What is your emotional connection to a vehicle that doesn’t work
Two years after first publishing this piece, this essay has new meaning.
On a trip back from the library on a very hot August day, the steering wheel of my car seized. I gripped the wheel as firmly as I could, so I wouldn’t hit the car in front as the road started to curve. Luckily I was on a local road, so I pulled into the first empty parking lot and turned off the ignition. One child burst into tears asking if we’d ever see Daddy again. The other child asked, “Can you buy a new car Mommy?”
I called my neighbor Zahra, to come take the kids while I stayed with the vehicle. 1
I pushed the circle start button. Nothing. I opened my car door, wondering if my car had overheated. I was calm and confident that the kids and I would get home, but I was confused why Blackberry wouldn’t start. I prayed to God that we would get home safely. I was stranded, in the middle of nowhere with 1 crying child. I was Hajjar in the dessert, trying to figure out what to do.
My hea…