06/14/2026
When does a car become more than just a car?
This week my beloved little '09 Toyota Yaris got it's final prognosis, the rust and wear of New England life has finally caught up at 225k miles.
And I'm not going to lie, I cried over that.
Over the last 11 years this little car has been so much more than 4 wheels and an engine. It came to me when I lived alone in the middle of nowhere Maine, where the grocery store was 30 minutes away and I hadn't had a working car in 8 months. A time that I felt,and was, so trapped. It ultimately got me out of that place.
Fast forward, I built The Rusticators Emporium from the ground up out of the back of the Yaris. Almost every vintage piece that passed through the shop or my booths was carried there in that car. Hundreds of thousands of miles were driven in that car to build this business, to make this little dream a reality.
The Yaris has been there through everything. It's kept me safe, it's helped me grow, it's seen everything and it never once left me stranded on the side of the road.
The car almost became part of my personality. I proudly drove that little worn Toyota and packed it full of so much vintage I often couldn't see out of the back window by the end of a picking trip.
As much as I will mourn this car (and the 40 miles a gallon) I also know that it was the final tangible piece of a life I don't live anymore. I'm no longer the scared, all alone, traumatized 20 year old that got that car. But it helped me become the 30something that built a life the 20 year old version could only dream of.
