Honestly, it was a car, a thing; I can't claim legitimate pain. It makes me a little sad on occasion, but overall in my life it won't matter. My mom, who loved aphorisms, would have said "by the time you've been married twice, you'll forget all about it." I plan to maintain my first and current marriage, but the sentiment fits.

I am very sorry for the loss of your Element! I was only in one once, but I loved the way the dials worked. Perhaps this humorous lyric from the song "Swagless" by Spose might provide some comfort:

I could sign and drive a boxy Honda SUV and not be in my element

219,000 is pretty solid for any car. I think I bought my Flex at 83,000 miles and sold it at under 100,000. Maybe the starting mileage was 73,000, but somewhere in that vicinity. That included using it as my primary transport vehicle when moving across several hundred miles (which, TBH, is probably what killed it - but I appreciated that I was able to use it and its vast cargo capacity.)

With reference to the toast at the end of the comment, I've always loved boxy vehicles. As a kid, my favorite vehicle was my dad's 1984 Toyota Celica (though his was maroon, unlike the picture). It's also the car in which I learned to drive a manual.

They don't make many boxy cars anymore. The first time I saw a Flex was on the highway and I said to my passengers "what was that?! I want one" then several years later I had referenced it so much my wife said to me some form of "FINE, shut up about it and go buy one." Several hours later I drove home my favorite vehicle so far.

Thanks for the response!