How I Fell in Love With Someone Twice My Age

(And it's going better than any other relationship I've been in.) Age really is just a number, after all.

As many of you already know, last year I became the proud owner of a 1967 Ford Galaxie 500. Most of you know that because I drove it into a ditch in January, but that's a different story. Hey, every relationship has its ups and downs, and figurative/literal days in the ditch when you have to be rescued by firefighters — but this is the story about the day we met...

When I was a kid, my dream car was a teal Cadillac with big fins, but as I got older, I really wanted a beat up old Ford truck. After a few unsuccessful Craigslist searches, my brother found a post about an old Galaxie named 'Katherine.' She came with a name, a personality and a Carroll Shelby sticker, so I felt like the stars were aligning for me and this fated Galaxie. (Now, if only the steering could also align...)

No, she wasn't a finned Caddy or a pickup truck; She wasn't what I was looking for, but she was the one.

I often get asked why I, as a 26-year-old, would dump my savings and drive home that November day in a rusty ol' tank 24 years my senior, and I actually don't really have an answer. In fact, I usually give a different one every time.

• I wanted to fall in love with something that's unreliable and a pain in the ass, but this seemed easier than getting a boyfriend.
• It's a dude magnet. OK, sure, those guys were firefighters helping me get out of a ditch, but whatever.
• It's a chick magnet. Just kidding, kind of. A girl drunk girl did try to break into her once in Old Town Fort Collins.
• I wanted to learn about cars. I'm still a huge dummy when it comes to cars, but I know way more about what's under the hood of one than I did a year ago, and I love getting my hands dirty.
• I've always loved classics and poor gas mileage so why not? I've now been to every gas station in town!

On my worst days, nothing feels better than getting behind the wheel and firing up that big, loud engine, and going for a drive. That's likely because I get high on the exhaust fumes after a while but it's OK maybe.