Blue Van: RIP

This old blue van has been across country 2 times, ridden the train to Florida and brought us back, moved any thing and everything we needed it to. What other "minivan" could fit a full sofa in the back? (Safety monitor alert: We did not drive with passengers on the sofa.) True to fit in that stuff one had to remove seats that wieghed ALOT . I did it myself at least once but that was before baby # four and I don't think I could've done it since. And true it had some minor electrical issues requiring that the battery be disconnected via the convenient toggle switch my husband installed in under the hood (picture a short woman, in the rain, holding up the hood and trying not to touch anything else reconnecting the battery), and netiher of the front doors opened from the exterior any longer, and the sliding door stuck regularly, and the side mirror had come off (but was just replaced!) and for months a cosmetic mirror from a Dollar General was duct taped on to the other side mirror to replace the one clipped by an RV on a mountain road, and the windshield had not been well seated and the door gasket was deteriorated so between the 2 the passenger had to hold towels up to catch the water flowing in, and you had to shout above the road noise and there was a tape permanently stuck in the tape player (cassette not 8-track, it's not like it was totally pitiful) and ... am I forgetting something? Well it's dead now and I am unaccountably grieved.
You see the eldest's crutches fit under the backseat and you really could fit anything in it. And (in it's own way) it was reliable and I hate change.

So we are looking at newer true minivans. No more GMs. No SUVs -we tried but the young man with the critches can't climb in them easily and into the Honda Pilot not at all -well maybe evetually but not in the time attepted and it was clearly not going to be pretty however he'd finally mange it. There was no step to use to haul yoursel the rest of the way and not enough spac behind the front seats to swing in his stiff legs -so yes maybe the front would work but that meanshe'd always get the front seat and I am just not that nice. Also you can't fit a wheelchair in the back of the any of the small SUVs. etc etc etc