Recently my mom's come to the decision to give up her license and car. She's enjoyed 18 years of driving herself around, being completely independant and enjoying the freedom of still owning her own car even after she married Paul.
My mom got her license at the age of 63. One fine Spring morning she got up and announced to my dad that she was going to learn to drive. My dad thought she was crazy. Here they were in their retirement years and my dad drove them everywhere. Growing up my mom had always taken a bus or walked to wherever she needed to go. At night my Dad drove her.
No. She was going to learn to drive and that was it. So she signed up for driving lessons. Her Instructor was oh, about 30 years younger than her but they got along famously.
At that time we had recreational property in the U.S. It was a very winding hilly road from our RV to town, a 4 mile road that dipped and hung over cliffs, that took people's breaths away that were seasoned drivers. My mom decided it'd be a good place to practice her driving skills. And yes, she only had a Learner's license but told the local Sheriff what she was doing and he said it was ok. True story.
By November of that year it was time to take the big test. She was all practiced up. She breezed through the test and the Examiner told her she wasn't allowed to give perfect scores but if she could she would. My mom was an ACE driver.
3 Weeks later on December 12, 1989 my dad unexpectedly passed away. Isn't God amazing at how he takes care of all the details in our lives? Now my mom was on her own and away she went driving my dad's car.
About 5 years later she decided it was time to get a new car. So she hopped over to the Dealership and bought herself a brand spankin' new Sunbird. A little sporty for an old lady but for the past 13 years she's been screaming around town in it.
Now it's mine. So on the weekend we went and did the paperwork and brought the baby home. I went for a drive on Sunday to my fave place, White Rock and took some photos with my new camera.
Go Mama Go. She's still the power walking queen of the 'hood. I hope she keeps that up for a long time to come.
2 comments:
Right when I saw the picture I thought, "Is that White Rock?" What a lovely place.
I really like this post. It is amazing how God prepared your mom for widowhood by giving her that desire to learn to drive. I love that story.
Congrats on the new car. Send my regards to your mom for knowing when it's time to hand over the keys. val
thanks val.........
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