200,000 Reasons to be Thankful

I called my friend Stacee on Saturday afternoon. It had been a while since we'd hung out. "What are you doing tonight?" I asked.
"We're having a birthday party for our car!" she replied. She then explained how her Dodge Caravan had recently turned 200,000 miles and she promised her kids that they could throw a party for it. Her four kids had gotten up at 7:00 that morning and baked a cake. The 10-year-old supervised and the 2-year-old topped it with his toy vans. Stacee invited my family to come over later for pizza and birthday cake. As someone who has worked as an automotive journalist, I could hardly pass up such a momentous event.

We arrived at the appointed hour. We ate delicious pizza, drank ginger ale until our noses tickled, and sang "Happy Birthday" to the van. It was great!

This may seem like a really silly thing, but here's what I learned that night:

1. Gratitude for a car that has lasted 200,000 miles (and counting) vs. complaining about an old car that has 200,000 miles is the right perspective to have in life.

2. Stacee's kids (and in turn, my kids) had a wonderful time learning lesson #1.

Thanks, Stacee for a fun time. I can't wait until my car turns 200,000 miles! (Only 70,000 more to go)!