Sporty at Forty

For twenty-some years, something’s been missing in my life; a void that needed to be fulfilled.

Getting married and having children didn’t satisfy the void, although both have been very fulfilling. Getting married gave me a husband who knows how to fix the problems I create or encounter and with whom I can kiss every day. My kids have filled most of my time fully as well as fulfilling my need for help with cooking and household chores.

I’ve always known that what was missing in my life had to do with my personality. For a long time I tried to ignore what was missing but never stopped looking entirely. It couldn’t be helped. My personality was drawn to them like dirt on boys. All these years I was missing a Jeep.

A Jeep seemed like a natural fit for me. Anyone who’s outdoorsy, looks at life as an adventure and prefers to take the back roads instead of the high or low roads in life needs a vehicle that suits his or her lifestyle and personality. Since high school, a Jeep was what my personality needed.

Several months before I turned forty, I told my husband I wanted to find an older Jeep for my birthday. Anytime a purchase serves multiple uses on a ranch, the merchandise becomes more valuable and most importantly; more justifiable to buy. To sell my husband on the idea, I explained that having a Jeep would serve many purposes.

Not only would it make my adventurous and outdoorsy life complete, he would get to experience the wind blowing through the hair that he didn’t have covered up with a hat, while he and I checked cows, the water tanks, delivered salt, or fixed fence together. I reminded him that since we’d use it to do ranch chores, it would be tax deductable.

I also mentioned that a Jeep would have more room for the kids, and I wouldn’t need to drive his little ranch pickup and have to adjust his seat and mirrors anymore. Our 14-year old son could do that instead. A jeep could be a back up four-wheel drive and could handle the rough roads we use in the summer.

Since he loves to find good deals in the classifieds, my husband regularly looked for a Jeep that fit my criteria: a 70’s-90’s model stick shift, fairly decent shape that still ran good, and was within our ranch-budget price range. Unfortunately nothing turned up in time for my recent birthday, so we checked out numerous dealerships but only found new ones for sale. It wasn’t until a few days after my birthday that my husband found an ‘89 five-speed Jeep Wrangler in the classifieds that filled the void perfectly, so we brought it home.

It’s a jeep that’s a lot like me. It has a little age on it but a lot of personality. It’s tough, sporty, likes sunshine and the open-air and is made for adventure and the outdoors. It has grit and determination and isn’t complicated or afraid to get dirty.

The day after we brought it home, my husband perked up when he heard me say, “Bikini top.” He was willing to help me put it on. It was designed for a different jeep but he knew I depend on him to make stuff work.

originally published June 6-12, 2010