A Message from Conor's Car
Donation protected
Hello. My name’s Kathy. I’m a Toyota Camry and my owner is in trouble. You see, I’m totaled. Sometime during the evening of April 4 when my owner, Conor Murphy, and I were sleeping, another vehicle came barreling down our street and hit me. Conor and I don’t know why this vehicle did this to me or why it didn’t stop to leave its information, but it caused $6,000 in damage, which is more than I'm worth and that's hard on my self-esteem. My owner is devastated. To him, I was priceless.
Conor was a fantastic owner. He gave me all the gas, oil, wiper fluid I could eat. I know he cared about me. When he adopted me in 2015, he sat in me for an entire afternoon and hugged my steering wheel. To him, I was more than just an aging car that most people would barely give a second glance, I was his independence and a symbol that he could stand on his own two feet or move on my four wheels. Later that afternoon, Conor and I took a long drive. He rolled down all my windows and blared “Walking on Sunshine” on my radio. It’s my favorite memory, but we have a lot of memories. Some are happy, some are not.
About a year after Conor bought me, someone broke his heart and Conor was having trouble sleeping. For two weeks, Conor and I took 3 a.m. drives to clear his head. Sometimes, the tears would well in his eyes to the point that he could barely see the road, other times, he’d rub my dash and ask, “Kathy, what are we going to do?” I didn’t have an answer, so we just kept driving forward, because sometimes life doesn’t leave you with another option.
But our memories aren’t all sad. Once, we drove to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Conor’s college buddy. Another time, we drove to Minneapolis to surprise a friend for his birthday. I can’t even count the number of times that Conor and I made sure that our friends made it home safely when they were drunk or the many trips to Target and late-night ventures for ice cream. But you’re probably wondering what the point of all this is, so I’ll get to it.
Conor’s a good person. He’s generous, witty, and extraordinarily kind. In fact, two years ago when a college student backed into me and dented my bumper, Conor noticed that the student wrote his insurance information on an ATM receipt dated that day. The kid’s account was negative a couple hundred dollars, so Conor never filed a claim because he knew the student couldn’t afford his deductible and that I’d be OK even with a dent. Conor knows that he is blessed and wanted to pay it forward.
But Conor has some negative qualities too. For instance, he’s proud and he has a really difficult time admitting when he needs help. That’s why I’m writing to you. Conor can’t afford to replace me and he’d be humiliated if he knew I was asking for your help.
Maybe you have the means to make a contribution to help with my replacement. Not only would I be incredibly grateful, but I know it would ease the burden on Conor’s extraordinarily worried mind. It’s also possible that you can’t afford financially to help out Conor, and that’s OK too. Maybe instead and you can let Conor know that you’re thinking of him. While life sometimes doesn’t give you any other option but to drive forward, we never travel alone.
Love,
Kathy
(The day Conor bought me)
Conor was a fantastic owner. He gave me all the gas, oil, wiper fluid I could eat. I know he cared about me. When he adopted me in 2015, he sat in me for an entire afternoon and hugged my steering wheel. To him, I was more than just an aging car that most people would barely give a second glance, I was his independence and a symbol that he could stand on his own two feet or move on my four wheels. Later that afternoon, Conor and I took a long drive. He rolled down all my windows and blared “Walking on Sunshine” on my radio. It’s my favorite memory, but we have a lot of memories. Some are happy, some are not.
About a year after Conor bought me, someone broke his heart and Conor was having trouble sleeping. For two weeks, Conor and I took 3 a.m. drives to clear his head. Sometimes, the tears would well in his eyes to the point that he could barely see the road, other times, he’d rub my dash and ask, “Kathy, what are we going to do?” I didn’t have an answer, so we just kept driving forward, because sometimes life doesn’t leave you with another option.
But our memories aren’t all sad. Once, we drove to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with Conor’s college buddy. Another time, we drove to Minneapolis to surprise a friend for his birthday. I can’t even count the number of times that Conor and I made sure that our friends made it home safely when they were drunk or the many trips to Target and late-night ventures for ice cream. But you’re probably wondering what the point of all this is, so I’ll get to it.
Conor’s a good person. He’s generous, witty, and extraordinarily kind. In fact, two years ago when a college student backed into me and dented my bumper, Conor noticed that the student wrote his insurance information on an ATM receipt dated that day. The kid’s account was negative a couple hundred dollars, so Conor never filed a claim because he knew the student couldn’t afford his deductible and that I’d be OK even with a dent. Conor knows that he is blessed and wanted to pay it forward.
But Conor has some negative qualities too. For instance, he’s proud and he has a really difficult time admitting when he needs help. That’s why I’m writing to you. Conor can’t afford to replace me and he’d be humiliated if he knew I was asking for your help.
Maybe you have the means to make a contribution to help with my replacement. Not only would I be incredibly grateful, but I know it would ease the burden on Conor’s extraordinarily worried mind. It’s also possible that you can’t afford financially to help out Conor, and that’s OK too. Maybe instead and you can let Conor know that you’re thinking of him. While life sometimes doesn’t give you any other option but to drive forward, we never travel alone.
Love,
Kathy
(The day Conor bought me)Organizer
C m
Organizer
Des Moines, IA
