It's been 10 months

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I was curious the other day about how long it has been since my van died so I looked it up on Facebook. I posted last April that my van died and we were down to one vehicle. It's hard to believe that it's already been close to a year since it died. We got that van when our oldest was only 6 months old and it died a month before she turned 13. The last few years with the van had been a struggle. The air conditioner didn't work. The heater had a sweet smell, a sign that I was told meant we had a coolant leak somewhere, but it was so small we couldn't find it. The sliding door we used the most was almost impossible for my youngest to open by herself in the winter. It was so rusted that chunks would fall off it onto the driveway and we can still see the rust outline from where I always parked. With so many issues, some would wonder why I miss the thing. There were many times that I could be heard saying I hated it. Yet I miss it. Some of it is the fact that we had it for twelve and a half years. But a large portion of it is the freedom it represented. I had my own vehicle. I could leave when I wanted. I could go where ever I wanted. And the biggest thing, I didn't have to drive my husband to work and pick him up every dang day. I work part time, he works full time. We both need the car to get to work, so it is me that has to take him to work. On the occasional day that he works and I don't, if I don't take him to work I am stuck at home. Even if I have no desire to go anywhere, it's still nice to have the option, but I usually choose to have him drive himself because I don't want to have to pick him up. People wonder why we still share a car after 10 months if I hate it so much. The easy answer is, we can't afford not to share a car. We bought this car in January last year, three months before my van died, because we were having transmission problems with the other car and decided it would be better to replace it than fix it. Making two car payments wasn't in our budget at the time. Now, we have one kid with headgear and a retainer working towards braces, and another getting braces next month. The money I could be using to pay for my own car is going to the orthodontist instead of towards a car. We will continue to be a one car family for as long as it takes. It isn't easy, but it's manageable. I was told a few times that I could never last without my own car. That person didn't understand. We will do what we have to do to manage, even if that means sharing a car for another year, or more. I will get my own car eventually, I just don't know how long that eventually will take.