(Un)necessary Attatchments

So I (Tommy) have had my truck since right after I graduated high school.  My sister originally bought it brand-spankin' new in 1996.  It's  a '96 Ford Ranger.  And no matter what other people may say it is Electric Blue....NOT purple.  So my dad got it from my sister when she decided that she needed to go back to school and since he was the co-signer, he "inherited" it by default. (Note to parents: Lesson #1 this thing taught me was to never, ever co-sign on a new vehicle for my kid(s).  Luckily my Dad forgot this lesson when I bought my motorcycle but that is a whole different blog.)  So when my truck bought the proverbial farm, I managed to acquire this fine machine.  My dad, who is a pastor, managed to put 90,000 on this thing in the two years he drove it.  He also managed to hit a deer with it, which resulted in the grill and hood being replaced.  Before I owned it and it was "just my parents truck" there was this set of railroad tracks that was on top of about a sudden 3 foot high hill on a country two lane road and I used to literally jump this at 55mph.  I'm talking all 4 wheels off the ground at once.  Pretty stupid yet impressive at the same time.  (Let me take the time to apologize to my parents at this moment.  Sorry!)  Since I have had it I have replaced the tailgate (look behind me before backing up?  Yeah right!  What could be back there?), the hood, the right fender twice, the grill, the bumper, deployed the driver side airbag (keep your jokes to yourself), bent the rear bumper, and put a big dent in the right back corner of the bed (not so much me as the guy that hit me).  I have also become quite the mechanic and replaced a couple engine parts also.  This doesn't even begin to cover all the stains inside or the headliner that look like a rapid wolverine got loose inside my truck.  See this picture below?



This is the middle front piece that hold the grill and headlights/blinkers on the truck.  You'll notice that the right side is broken off.  I did this a few months ago when I was on the highway and the guy in front slammed on his brakes and I ended up swerving into the other lane and some guy in a truck twice my truck's size removed it for me, along with the headlight and blinker.  (remember this has all happened in a span of 10yrs starting at the tender age of 19.  I'm not constantly wrecking my truck, I swear!)  I have had this piece on our backporch since I took it off the truck in December.  I just can't bring myself to toss it in the ol' dumpster.  It feels like tossing part of my kid in there.  Don't ask why.  I replaced the part.  It's just weird to me the attachments we humans get to stupid things.  Sure this truck has driven all over Texas, driven from TX to Connecticut, shipped to Hawaii from New Jersey and back after three years, and made the trip from Maine to Washington with me or the fact that my butt fits right into the butt groove I have made in the driver seat after years of sitting in that seat, but it is still just a stupid piece of metal.  I'm not sure what I am going to do when the day comes I have to sell it.  Or junk it at the rate I am going.  I'm sure my wife will rejoice.  She has had a vendetta against it ever since I left her on Oahu with it two days after she got there.  It's a standard.  She didn't know how to drive a stickshift.  She learned real fast.  Anyway, I am amazed that this thing still runs after all I  put it through.  I still am quite attached to it.  Maybe it's all the memories.  Maybe it's the fact it's paid for.  Who knows.  All I know is I plan on keeping her around for a few more years.  Anyone else out there have a weird attachment to a piece of junk?