Hello, Goodbye

An era has passed. Etta the Touareg is gone. Sure, since she came to Northern Illinois, she had not left the house much, but then again, neither did I.

Plus, she was a little camera shy. I managed to find this shot of her rear end, hidden in the garage, in the place she called her own.

Is it shallowness on my part? Am I a bad person for leaving her, with almost no warning? Etta was beautiful on the inside and out, and she had everything I needed and many things I never knew I couldn't live without before I met her. She had one fatal flaw, however; she simply had an insatiable appetite. Over time, being with her was becoming too expensive to justify.

Etta was left in capable hands in Gurnee, with folks who will help her transition to a new, possibly more active lifestyle. Maybe this time she can have the family she was meant to have.

So Etta, here's to you. I will miss our gentle rides down 173. I will miss the way you carefully guided me where I needed to go. I will miss our shopping trips. But mostly, I will miss the way you made me feel. You made me feel confident and successful, as if nothing could harm me when we were together.

I wish you a happy future.

With every goodbye, there is a hello.

I have a new friend in my life. He is unassuming, simple and elegant. Where Etta had flash, he simply has function. He is staid and prosaic. Like Kermit, one of his predecessors, he asks for almost nothing and gives me control in return. And like Kermit, he reminds me again of who I am: a simple girl from Ohio who really isn't all that important, no matter how much she wants everyone to think she is.

May I introduce to you, dear readers, Murphy Brown.

He is a pleasure to be with. Already, I feel we have the comfortable bond of an old friendship renewed. It is almost as if Murphy waited in the wings until I was ready to be myself again.

He is from a good family, and I entered this relationship with an eye toward the long term. I left my inability to commit at the door when I met Murphy. I look for our friendship to last a long, long time.

I hope you will join me in welcoming Murphy to our circle. I am glad to have him around.