Massachusetts Truck vs. California Bubble-Top

There's a lot of people talking about Scott Brown, the new Senator-elect from Massachusetts.

His truck is pretty popular, too.

Brown drove his vehicle (with 200,000 miles) to an epic victory over Democrat Martha Coakley. The truck became a focal point of the campaign when President Obama ridiculed it while stumping for Coakley a few days ago.

Well, move over, Mr. Brown: My 1990 Ford bubble-top van can take your GM pickup anyday!

Just as Brown's vehicle has a story, so does my bubble-top, and it's a doozy. It's become one of those family possessions that's right up there with our "favorite dog" memories.

We bought the van just after I'd had James, in 1998. My sister was valiantly fighting ovarian cancer and we made frequent family trips to Ventura to see her. While she was hospitalized, Dave and the kids would wait in the van while I visited her in ICU. When James was hungry, I'd run out to the parking lot, sit in the van and nurse him. Then I'd trundle back up to be with my sister.

The kids loved that vehicle, and still do. It's got a tiny television, a VCR player, and best of all, cup holders. Yessiree, cup holders.

But that's not all.

When my niece came to stay with us for a few months, I'm pretty sure the van became the site of an after-concert party with a heavy metal band from Los Angeles. She never told us the whole story, and I think I'm grateful.

I did, however, briefly consider asking our priest for an exorcism.

Our oldest daughter, Kathryn, nearly had to take her driver's exam using the van, but we were worried it wouldn't clear the overhang at DMV, so we quickly arranged for another vehicle. She learned to drive in that old bubble top, and now can get behind the wheel of practically anything.

We love that car.

Once, while camping with our guide-dog-in-training in San Rafael, James woke up in the middle of the night, scared and sick. We climbed over the dog, snuck into the van, and made ourselves a bed in the back.

To this day, I think it was the best sleep I've ever had.

Now we've put the old workhorse on standby status. Occasionally, we all pile in and drive to Shell Beach to see the sunset. Or we take it to the drive-in, where I curl up in the back and snooze during the second movie.

During the cash-for-clunkers program, a neighbor suggested we turn it in. After all, he said, it was worth $4,000 towards a new, more efficient, vehicle.

We pondered it. But in the end, we just couldn't do it. Like Scott Brown's truck, it's hard to put a price tag on an old friend.