Sad Goodbye's

As military families, we become familiar to saying goodbye. Whether it be to a spouse leaving for an assignment elsewhere (TDY), friends moving etc. It is something we deal with regularly, and it is just as sad with each departing.
Today, I sad a goodbye to something that has been apart of my life for the past 3 days. You see, months ago, a man backed into my van with his delivery truck and left a scratch about 3 inches long. It was a bit deeper than the scratches already there from my mishap when the van was just weeks old. Nevertheless, he hit my van and therefore it had to be fixed right?
So, we contacted a body shop here and got the go ahead from his insurance company to finally begin the work.
Under German law, the person at fault HAS to provide a rental for the other person equal to one class lower than the said vehicle.
So, we were picked up by the rental agency next door to the body shop to get the car.
Here, automatic cars are the minority. I wanted one because that's what I feel more comfortable driving. Mike, he wanted a standard because..he likes them.
I kindly asked the lady if she had an automatic. Mike was hoping he'd score a new car to drive for the next few days. SUCKER!
I was shown a cute BMW wagon which would've been a tight fit for the kids and I, but it would've done for the short time. After talking between themselves, they came to the conclusion that I needed a bigger car. So, I was shown this other beauty. A black 2008 Mercedes E280 sedan. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face. A mercedes for a rental car??? The guy that fixed the car laughed at the fact that most of our dream cars are used for Taxi's here. hee hee! As soon as the paperwork was finished, Mike grabbed the key and immediately took me on a wild ride down the autobon. The max speed the car could go was 260 KM which is about 160 mph. He took it to about 124 mph in a matter of seconds. This thing flew without any effort. It had a tv in the console that made the kids happy. For safety reasons, the picture turned off when it was in motion. I've never seen the kids hollar at me to slow down to catch a red light in my life! This car kept my toosh warm with the heated seats. It even picked up all the radio stations my van doesn't because of the wierd frequency stuff.
So, my point is...I had to say goodbye to a fabulous rental car today. It was a sad goodbye indeed but a happy reunion with my newly painted bumper.
I wanted to get a better picture but forgot my camera, the phone picture will have to do.