Toyota

In Memoriam: Sophie 2007 – 2025

/ rachelgoes262 / 1 Comment

A photo from my photo album from a few years ago camping with Sophie.

After my cats, my strongest attachment is my car. I’m one of those ones who will buy a Toyota and drive it until it dies. Sophie was my second Toyota. She was a green Corolla. 

Sophie and I had many great memories together. She was the only car that all my cats rode in. Kitty, Kip, Jude, Simon, Jolene and Flower all rode in Sophie. We went to my favorite camping spot in the Adirondacks. We went surfing on Cape Cod.

My first Corolla was a base model. Sophie was the luxury model. She had a polished wood interior and plush, luxurious seats. Even with all the luxury, I was still able to fit a lot in Sophie for camping and for moving. Sophie was the nicest vehicle I have ever had in my life. 

Sophie got the cats and I to safety. She made the 3-hour drive north to get us all to the safe house and out of the house with the abusive neighbors. In fact, it was in that exodus that Sophie gave her life protecting me. (That will be a story for another post, but yes, we did escape the neighbors who repeatedly injured us, harassed us, and attempted arson while we were in the house this past summer). 

We also won’t talk about the deliberate damage Sophie incurred from the neighbors prior to her demise. 

It’s hard for me to lose Sophie so soon after losing Jude. I don’t want to talk about what happened. I want to remember all the good times I had with Sophie. She was still young and low mileage compared to my first Toyota. My first Toyota had 283,000 miles on it when it died. Sophie only had 175,000. 

Some of my best memories in life have been while driving. I remember summer 2015 when Sophie and I visited as many state parks as we could on our Empire Passport. She used to have a row of Empire Passport stickers in her window, back when they issued stickers before they went to the cards. 

For a sedan, Sophie was surprisingly spacious and was able to transport my short board for surfing. For my long board, I needed a vehicle with a roof rack, but Sophie could handle the short board for surfing the Great Lakes. 

We went to Boston and to various other cities in the northeast on marathon running trips. Sophie was my most reliable companion over the course of her entire life with me. So many things in life change, but Sophie was a constant for me for a long time. 

Sophie was the most dependable being in my life, aside from the cats. 

I knew it would happen eventually. No car lives forever. I was honestly hoping for another year or two. I wanted Sophie to make it to 20. She would have made it to 20, if it had not been for the neighbor situation. This year has been especially hard. In 2025, I lost my house (was bullied out of it), I lost Jude, and I lost Sophie. That’s 3. Bad luck comes in 3’s, so knock it off. 

I haven’t even had time to properly grieve Jude or Sophie with everything that is going on.

The good news is that, yes, we are out of the house with the horrible neighbors and are in a new, safe location. More on that later. It was in that transition that Sophie died protecting me. I owe that car my life. It never should have ended for her like it did. Sophie deserved better.

On the bright side, Sophie carried my most precious cargo to safety. She was able to get the cats out of that house with the evil neighbors. I need to hold onto the good memories we had. The camping trips, the surfing trips, the park trips. Sophie kept us safe. 

She was the best car ever. I love you and I miss you. 

Sophie’s Story

/ rachelgoes262 / 2 Comments

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Sophie is a green Toyota Corolla. She is my second Toyota Corolla. I liked the first one I had so much that I decided I wanted to have another one when the first one died. My car is my most prized possession aside from my Boston medal.

It has now been over 20 years that I have been driving a Toyota Corolla. Sophie came into my life at a very bad time. I knew that my first Toyota Corolla, Cool, was on it’s last legs during the winter of 2012-2013. I was trying to push that car through one last winter and had planned on looking for a new Corolla in the spring. Life had other plans, and Cool died in January 2013 – right in the middle of winter.

Finding a used Toyota Corolla is extremely difficult. People tend to love this car and drive them into the ground. I am one of them. When I killed Cool, he had 283,000 miles. So when Cool died, I actually spent a few days without a vehicle because I just could not find a used Toyota Corolla.

Then I found Sophie. Sophie was a necessity. I needed a vehicle. It was too difficult to be happy about a new car when I was mourning my first one. You see, my first Toyota was more than a car. At times, it was also housing for Kitty, Kip and I when we were homeless. I had driven 250,000 of the 283,000 miles that were on that car.

So Sophie entered my life. Within the first 6 months of owning the car, I hit my first deer. A few months later, I hit a second deer. Two deer hits in the first year of owning the car was not a good start. 

Sophie went to Philly with me when I ran one of my marathons. She has been to Cape Cod, Boston, and my favorite camping place. When I bought Sophie, I was at a different point in my life. I vowed that this car would be a car and not used as housing.

What makes Sophie so special is that she is the only thing that joins me to all five of my cats. Kip rode in Sophie to his vet office visits the last year of his life. Kip passed away in December 2013, the first year I owned the car.

Kitty rode in Sophie to his doctor appointments. First, for well visits, then for his cancer check-ups. Kitty passed away in April 2017.

When I adopted Jude, I drove Sophie to the shelter to meet him. Jude rode home in Sophie. Simon and Jolene have both ridden in Sophie also. 

All five cats have been in that car. It’s pretty special. 

Only four of the five cats ever lived in the apartment. Three of my five cats have lived in my house. Yet, all five of my cats have ridden in that car.

I’m glad that Sophie has had the opportunity to go to all of my favorite places before the pandemic hit. Not only is travel restricted due to the pandemic, but my ability to drive has decreased over the past six years or so due to my disability. At least I can say I drove that car where it was important for me to go.

Many people talk down to me over my love affair with Sophie. But when a car has been such a significant part of your life as this one, you get attached to it. My car has been more reliable than most of the people in my life.

I am hoping that when Sophie dies I will be able to afford a third Toyota Corolla, but we will see.

When I bought the house, I was ecstatic that there is a garage here. I park Sophie in the garage in the winter. I am happy that she is getting the treatment she deserves.

My car has been a lifeline to me in the pandemic. I know that no matter what happens, if things get bad, I can always jump in the car and go. I no longer know where I would go, but I know that I can leave it I ever needed. Unfortunately, all of my safe places to which I would go – the people have all died in the pandemic. 

I am so thankful to have Sophie in my life. She is my lifeline to Kip and Kitty who passed away. She keeps me, Jude, Simon, and Jolene all safe. We travel in her to go to medical appointments.

It’s probably stupid to write a blog post about a car, but Sophie is kind of a big deal here. I’m looking forward to many more years of driving her.