Thank You Ford Motor Company for the Taurus 2002 SE
This is a message of deep gratitude to the Ford Motor Company for my 2002 Taurus SE. Our strong bull of a station wagon, which saved our lives in a broadside collision on Saturday.
When I saw a huge SUV bearing down on us and then felt the impact, I turned into the slide and stayed off the brakes.We spun a full 360 and then another quarter to end up perpendicular across two lanes of traffic. My daughter was on the impact side, but she was unharmed except for a few muscle strains and shock. I have some bruises on my legs and felt a bit wonky the last day or two.
Our car is totaled. We are a bit bruised, but unbowed! And I am sad about the loss of my car and grateful, so grateful: My daughter is alive; and that is all that matters. This morning at breakfast, we talked about what made the spirit of the holidays and we agreed that being alive to celebrate them, was what really mattered.
I will miss my wagon. I loved this car. This model had adjustable brake and gas pedal stems, as well as adjustable seats and steering wheel. So for someone like me with extra long arms, being able to get my leg adjustment and my arms has added greatly to my comfort driving. We packed in it lots of trips to the beach, picnics, kids, food for The Kitchen, groceries, bikes, boxes of books, luggage and new furnishings for our little house in Copper City, flats of plants, mulch, party dinners, relatives, friends, backpacks and more. We took long trips in it singing at the top of our lungs. It was good in snow and rain. It was roomy and big enough to make me feel safe. It got decent milage.
The Ford Taurus --strong and mighty
My Ford Taurus Ford cars was a real workhorse, er--workbull! bull astrology The bull is considered sure footed, taking everything with caution towards success. Our Taurus wagon certainly took the brunt of the collision and successfully protected my daughter and me. I am profoundly grateful.
I have to go to the mechanic to get my stuff out of the car tomorrow or Friday. I will take a bit of the wrecked car and treat it like any animal that is sacrificed for the life of the tribe. Ours is a little tribe at the moment--only the two of us and our fish, Mystery, but that is going to change in the coming year.
Opening to Love, Sex, Connection, Relationship, and Abundance
Having a close brush with death as we did Saturday, is speeding up my heart's opening to love, sex and abundance http://www.glcoherence.org/resources-coherence-tools-introductory-coherence-technique.html . I have faced death two other times in my life--once in a near drowning accident when I was 5 and once in a terrible car accident--long before seat belts-- when I was 7. Now I am ready to be in relationship, have love , laughter, sex, abundance in my life. So on this day before Christmas Eve, I am celebrating being alive and filled with gratitude for my daughter's life. And grateful to my poor old bull of a car for saving us. Buffalo the intelligent provider and giver of life.
In Plains Indian lore, the buffalo gave life by giving its life. It was the symbol of abundance and intelligence. It protected and provided. Our Taurus certainly protected and provided for us. I am open to what lies ahead, certain that what will come will be as good if not better than what has been so far. In celebration...welcoming what lies ahead.
Frida is the daughter of Philip Berrigan and Liz McAlister an internationally renowned American peace activists. (Along with his brother Daniel Berrigan, Philip was for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for for burning draft board records.)
I lived on--in half of myself. Years went by. School. Good grades. Leadership roles in HS. Leading parts in plays at the local college while in HS. Longtime boyfriends. College scholarships and more leading roles. Civil rights activism. Beginning awareness as a proto and then full out women's rights activist. Peace activist. Acting roles and part time jobs in NYC. Work in my acting labor unions. First marriage. Stiff, oh so stiff. Scared. In over my head. In-laws who were grand. A Henri Moore sketch in the dining room. A husband nine years older. So stiff and so scared. Careers taken up, succeeded at, and evaporated. Another marriage undertaken. Arm wrestling over intramarriage power dynamics: The dishes , the money, sex. Disharmony. Adventures and fun. Travel and amazing places and people. Everyday life hell and a struggle. Grad school at 46. Doctoral Research begun at 50. 
