In Memoriam of My Sweet Sweet Tacoma

What is it that makes certain cars so special? I find that in ski communities such as mine, Toyota Tacomas and Subaru Outbacks are especially prized. Maybe its their impressive snow prowess or maybe its more. Maybe there is something about that rice burner smell that just drives people crazy.

We are gathered here today to remember my 1998 Toyota Tacoma, Roslyn. Named after a shit hole logging community in Washington, Roslyn was a star. At first glance she looked really rough, she was riddled with bullet holes and had mismatched panels on her passenger side. Her topper was the back half of a Four Runner which had been removed with some sort of modified chain saw and she wreaked of weed no matter what I did. It was love at first sight. I bought her when I was 15 years old, not knowing how to drive a manual, or what a special treasure I had inherited.

Roslyn was in the shop almost every month, if not multiple times but hey what do you expect from an engine that has seen almost 400,000 miles. She was nimble as a goat in the back country and in the right hands, could scale things that quite literally no one else could. She traversed Southwestern Colorado with a roar, in a haze of oil and campfire smoke, every passengers face alight with glee.

I had to sell Roslyn in February of this year, however our adventures did not end. I sold her to a friend so I would visit her often, sometimes just crawling up in the front seat after a hard day. Today my friend rolled Roslyn on the way up to Wolf Creek pass. Everyone was okay, but she took a hard hit. I know she will recover, she always does but the whole situation is terrifying. Roslyn was brave and strong, she did her job, just as she always does and she protected those boys. Thank God.

Thank you Roslyn for taking such good care of myself and my loved ones. If you have a first generation Tacoma maybe sit in it a little longer today, I wish I could sit in mine. I love you Roslyn thank you for everything