On I35 South

Couple hears audible groan as Mercury Villager rolls over 200,000 miles.

Thank you Mercury Villager for reaching your 200,000th mile and not dying. Thank you for getting us to Montana, North Carolina, Northern Minnesota and back again. Thank you for being big enough to carry all our belongings (cough* excluding our multiple troves stashed in our parent's attics and basements) to our first apartment together and the next two after that. Thank you for not giving up on us even though we refuse to fix your broken passenger side window, a fact that requires hostile yelling at all your guests "Don't touch the window!" and thank you for letting us remove your center seats for storage purposes even though it makes you look homely and awkward. Thank you for having a tape deck and playing our single tape of Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty over and over again. Thank you for being old, dirty and dented - characteristics that help us find you in busy parking lots and keep us from agonizing over muddy boots. You are a good vehicle and no matter what happens in the next two months, we will continue to fight for minivan dignity in shady and classy establishments alike.