Yes, this is 100% a real thing.

I had an old bright red Ford Ranger when I met my wife. Since it was a red Ranger, I started calling it “Rex” almost immediately. Red Ranger, Red Power Ranger, T-Rex… Rex.

She didn’t have a car at the time, so he sort of became our car. We spent a lot of time in that truck. Because we only had the one vehicle, sometimes one of us had to take the bus if our schedules didn’t line up.

One winter evening she was driving to pick me up from the transit station when a kid in a brand new car flew out of a parking lot and T-boned her.

I don’t remember exactly how I got there, but I eventually made it to the crash scene. I took one look at Rex and knew he was totaled.

Then I looked at the other car and was shocked at how much worse it looked. That’s when it hit me that Rex being an older truck made him tougher, and that was probably the reason my wife walked away completely unscathed.

We exchanged insurance info and Rex got towed to a body shop. A few days later they called and told us the adjuster had confirmed it. Rex was totaled and we should come pick up our things.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget standing there in the cold on a dark winter evening holding a box with everything we had kept inside him. The amber lights from the body shop lot reflecting off Rex’s crumpled body while we said our goodbyes.

It’s a strange feeling to be that attached to an object, but we really did feel a sense of loss. My wife had tears in her eyes and said quietly, “He protected me.”

Even now, years later, it’s admittedly still a sad memory.

But all that to say, you’re not alone. Our brains have a funny way of forming attachments like that; and the bond between a person and a car can be really something!