(Because some cars are more than just cars)

🚗 Love at First Vroom

I have a habit of making big purchases when I get emotionally impulsive—like I’m possessed by a teenage demon with a debit card. So it’s no surprise that when I was approaching my 16th birthday, I decided I needed a car. Not just any car—a cute car. A convertible. Something that screamed main character energy at every red light.

That’s when I met him.
A 2006 red convertible Volkswagen New Beetle with only 50,000 miles. Love at first vroom. 🐞

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🐞 Enter: The Legend

I begged my mom. She couldn’t finance it herself, so we dragged Grams out to Mason (as one does when fate is on the line). My dad even showed up to give it the grumpy mechanic once-over.

Mom and Grams were planning to negotiate, but then—plot twist—another teenager showed up. Same age. Also begging her dad for my car.

The panic was palpable. I saw my future flash before my eyes. Spoiler alert: it had no convertible in it. So we acted fast, closed the deal, and just like that—I had the love of my life.

I named him Ollie, after Oliver Street in Charlotte, and slapped a Green Day grenade in the back window like a badge of honor. Eventually, I made it official with an 0LIBUG personalized plate. Everybody knew who he was. He wasn’t just a car—he was a legend.

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🎶 The Ollie Bug Mixtape

I drove him all over Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois—mostly for concerts, occasionally for escape. I practically lived out of his tiny trunk. He was my sidekick for every playlist-fueled road trip, every breakdown (mechanical or mental), every impulsive late-night drive with the top down and screaming Evanescence into the stars.

The Ollie Bug Mixtape was peak Hot Topic:
All Time Low, Mayday Parade, We The Kings, Paramore, Boys Like Girls, The Maine, Taking Back Sunday, The Pretty Reckless, and more.

There were weird coincidences—he always broke down right after I got my student loan disbursement and cost me exactly whatever I had leftover for savings.

There were gas station memories—like the guy who ran up, punched my arm, and yelled “Slug bug! No slug bug back!” (Sir. Please. I am but a fragile emo.)

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🕯️ Goodbye, Old Friend

Eventually, the transmission gave out and Ollie got parked for a while. He got resurrected once—but not for long.

Right before I filed bankruptcy, I had to transfer him to my mom. He sat in her garage for years with a bum tire and a dead battery, slowly fading into memory. We finally said goodbye in 2022.

Yes, it was emotional.
Yes, I cried.
Yes, I made a shadow box to remember him with his license plate inside.

What can I say? I’m a sentimental car witch.

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🖤 Forever Yours

Ollie wasn’t just a vehicle.
He was a capsule of freedom, a vessel of dreams, a little red reminder that some things in life are worth the fight—even if they cost you your whole savings account and a transmission.

Wherever you are now, Ollie Bug—thank you.
For every mile.
For every memory.
And for making my youth feel like a damn movie.

Forever yours,
That weird girl who still misses her car 🖤🐞