One of my favorite places is my best friend's passenger seat, and that’s my seat. 

My best friend Em’s car is a mess and they know it; papers, food wrappers, skittles, cups, and stuffed animals. But every time we go somewhere, I take shotgun and it’s always the most fun and comfortable experience. I feel cared for and heard with Em driving a little too fast and Ben asleep in the back seat. 

The car itself is very decorated. It’s got stickers on the back, and on the inside, and the dash is filled with tiny stuffed animals, mostly from Meijer. The little charm that hangs off the mirror is from one of the first times I went to a 5-Below and was exposed to all its cheap glory. 

And of course, there are all the knick-knacks. Things like Lego™ figures, rubber ducks, old pens, and the literal $20 worth of coins. I think if you looked hard enough, you’d find that Em has a whole decade straight (one from every year) of quarters and pennies. And even though the whole thing is also covered in enough old trash to litter a state park, it’s all still a part of my favorite place and I don’t think I’d change it either.