Anne-Marie Mediwake is in the midst of car shopping. Since giving birth to triplets two years ago, the affable co-anchor of Global’s News Hour has been driving a 10-year-old silver Dodge Caravan “with a dent on one side and rust on the other.
“When we found out we were having triplets, we realized we were going to need a bigger vehicle,” explains the Sri Lankan-born beauty. At the time, she and her husband, Global News reporter Darryl Konynenbelt, owned an Acura and a Nissan Maxima.
But with the onslaught of expenses, from hospital bills to everyday items for not one, but three new babies, the couple couldn’t buy a new car. So they sold their Acura to Mediwake’s sister for a dollar and bought her Dodge minivan for the same amount.
Now that the triplets, Annabel, Elizabeth and Maxim, have just turned two, Mediwake says they’re ready for a new car. “In my fantasy, I would like a vintage Bentley with a driver,” she confesses.
In reality, she and Konynenbelt are weighing two options. “Plan A is to buy a used Honda Odyssey and a used Volvo Wagon. That way, I can use the Volvo if I need to cart around the kids,” she explains.
“Plan B is to take the best of both and get a Honda Pilot”
Commuting is part of Mediwake’s everyday life. Each afternoon she drives from her Oakville home to Global’s studios in North York for her 6 p.m. newscast. But she no longer takes the fast lane. “I used to speed a lot,” she says. “Now I have three people that are relying on me, so why take risks.”
Despite her excitement over a new car, she confesses that it will be sad to let their 2004 Nissan go. It’s what they drove each of their bundles of joy home in, one-by-one, from the hospital.
But with three growing girls, the time to upgrade in size and safety has come.
Whatever they end up buying, one thing’s certain: the car will be loaded with car seats, toys, equipment and one happy family.
– Heather Buchan is a Toronto-based journalist whohas worked at several magazines, includingHello! Canada, where she cut her teeth in the world of celebrities.
