Camry

The photos below represent what's now left of our 2008 Camry. I didn't have time to explain previously but know, for the future, that I would never post such a spectacle without elaborating had real harm or injustice been done. That being said, here is, finally, what happened.

Shawn was painting a house (his summer job) in Burnsville Wednesday when the crew heard a loud noise. Miles, fellow painter and the most mild-mannered, polite, quiet kid you'll ever come across, leisurely strolls up to Shawn and says… "A tree just fell. I think it fell on your car." I have to take a moment here and say that I am completely envious all people who possess this "chill" personality. I covet it. I am not such a person nor do I understand how anyone can be, but it's my pipe dream to become this way someday.

Anyway, Shawn goes over to see that he can't see the Camry. It's now under the neighbors tree. It was not storming, it was not raining, it wasn't really windy, it wasn't an old tree. It was a freak accident by every definition. Luckily, no one was harmed and everything will be replaced. It's hard to tell from the photos but the roof was dented in, the trunk the same, the glass all shattered and many a fender and bumper bent beyond repair. They considered it totaled and it's on it's way to a salvage yard as we speak. Sad. Even more sad? Our brand new car seat was in the back and is now full of glass. Our insurance company will reimburse us for a brand new one, but still, sad.

Since Wednesday, Shawn has been on and off the phone with about 368 people to coordinate our insurance, the tree owner's insurance, the city of Burnsville, the loan holder of the Camry, etc. Bless his patience. I've been blessed with a man who isn't necessarily as "chill" as he used to be but is far more apt and able to deal with this kinda stuff then I am. I'm not the only one who thinks so either. The owner's of the tree had nothing but rave reviews when dealing with Mr. DeBoer and after they offered to take care of our deductible (which we couldn't in our right mind accept – it's not like they purposely pushed the tree over for heaven's sake) they worked with their insurance company to honor us with some sort of moral clause where they're insurance company will now be sending us the money to cover our deductible. Karma at it's best people. If I had been there, we would've ended up owing them money somehow… lesson to be learned by me and all others out there who may be a little "difficult" to deal with. Ahem, (*cough*) everyone in my family…

So… buttons… on your underwear. (Tell me others have heard that expression?) We're now waiting to find out what the Camry was assessed at. Our insurance company will then pay off our loan, cut us a check for the difference (hoping there is one) and we're back at square one looking for a car. We intend to end up with something as close to our original "ghetto cruiser" (Dad's terminology, not mine) as possible. Same year, same mileage, maybe white or black instead with hopefully, the same payments. Ironically, we had recently washed the beauty, put gas in it and replaced it's tires. See what we get for having nice cars with new parts that are taken care of and reliable?! Nothing like this ever happened to the Cav… or the bitchin Beretta… I'm just sayin.