MAX Senior coach: ‘Lost a little independence again’

“Well that’s it dad!” Together with my father I hand over the keys and papers to the dealer. My father still asks: “What will happen to him now?” The dealer is going to take a good look at it one more time and then dismantle the parts and sell them, he tells my father. “He has never let me down until recently, but that’s the way it is.” I see some resignation in my father’s eyes. He said goodbye to his car a few weeks earlier. And he feels that he is also losing a little independence.

Car trouble

A few weeks earlier, my father lends his car to our daughter and her boyfriend, who have to travel to the other side of the country. He doesn’t need it himself. After all, the car has been standing still in front of the door for six months. On the way, the two have car trouble. And not just a little bit either. Through no fault of their own, but the engine takes a serious hit. The damage appears to be considerable.

My father is realistic, it is no different. It’s an old car and this can happen. He arranges for the car to be taken to the garage and examined. When it becomes clear that repairs are becoming far too expensive and the car is no longer worth it, he accepts this.

End of driving

This event brought my father’s car ownership to an abrupt end. It is no longer possible to postpone until the next driving license inspection. I suggest that we plan a morning off to say goodbye to the car in a dignified manner. After all, he was a loyal friend for many years, who took my father everywhere. The car has to be delivered empty and I know we will need some time for that. With 2 crates, garbage bags and some empty boxes, we arrive at the car in the nearby garage parking lot.

More than just a means of transportation

Fortunately, I see that there is also a garbage container on the property right next to the car, which is convenient. Because my goodness, what we take out of the car… A small selection: dozens of screws, straps, an old rain jacket, many packets of tissues, empty PET bottles, empty plastic bags, road maps, a whole book of street names, a few sunglasses, caps, rolls of peppermint, various notebooks and so on. In the end we are left with a small filled crate with items ‘to keep’ or ‘to be further sorted out’. I realize that the car actually served more than just a means of transportation. The car has been a true ‘man cave’ for my father, his own domain.

Clean up what has been saved

We take a few nice pictures as a memory and after a cup of coffee we say goodbye to the garage and the car. On the way home, my father says that he will soon try out the regional taxi. It’s nice how he shows resilience. We put the crate in the storage room, where there is hardly any free space left. Just like the car, this is also his domain, where he has kept and stored everything, but where he can no longer access anything at all. I think I’ll plan a free morning soon for another clean-up job.

Mieke Schouten writes about her life and her work as MAX Senior coach. If you would like to get in touch with her, please call 035 – 677 0710 on working days between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. or online contact on.

(Photo: Shutterstock)