Sarah and her entourage enjoying the Junk Stroller
I own one of those jogging strollers that holds two children. It’s been a member of our family ever since child # 2 was born seven years ago. Whenever the weather was good I would take the two children out for a weekend jog. At first it held Shelby and Cole, then Cole and Sarah, and now just Sarah and her Care Bear collection.
It isn’t the best looking stroller. When I first purchased it new it was dark blue. Now it has weathered to a purple-gray color. There are bird droppings on it. There are dried spider egg sacks dangling from the bottom of it. And it holds the stains of a hundred Popsicles. Yes, I did try to clean it once but the results weren’t impressive enough to ever attempt it again. The tires lose their air quickly and the front wheel wobbles and clacks when it rotates.
Sarah will have outgrown it by next season, so I’ve resisted the urge to buy a newer, single version. I looked them up on Craig’s List early this past spring but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $50.00 or more on something I’d only be using for a few months. I’m not sure why; goodness knows I’ve spent $50.00 on dumber things before.
I really haven’t spent too much time thinking about it until we went to a birthday party this past weekend. There were twenty shiny, nice cars lined up the length of the driveway. There was one junky stroller- mine. At one point during the party I glanced over at it and saw just how shabby it looked, and I wondered what people thought of us. When we were leaving (early, because the sun was setting and we had to walk the mile home before dark) one of the dads approached us and offered us a ride home. I believe that he thought we didn’t have access to a car and had walked out of necessity. His look of charity turned to one of puzzlement when I tried to explain to him that we had deliberately walked over for the exercise. Sigh.
While jogging today I reflected on the stroller some more. I thought about the different bits of wear and tear on it as proof of many years of honorable and selfless service to our family. Heck, at leat it hasn’t spent the last seven years parked in the garage!
Tags: Family Life
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