Driving Lessons

At the age of 88, my mother in law, Dair, was still driving. My husband had asked her several years earlier, when she was much more lucid, when would she know it was time to stop driving, and her answer was, "when I have a wreck." That was our worst nightmare.

Thankfully she didn't drive too far most of the time. Her usual trips were to the store, church or the nursing home, all of which were within a five mile radius of her home. However, once a week during bowling season she would drive 15 or so miles to the bowling alley. This was a great concern to us because her top speed was 35 mph and she was driving on a two-lane, curvy mountain road. I'm sure the long line of cars that were stuck behind her featured drivers cursing under their breath the entire time. We were afraid she would pull out in traffic in front of someone and cause a serious wreck. Finally my husband resigned himself to the fact that we couldn't stop her from driving and it might just happen, so he made a big sign with her name and emergency contact info on it that he placed in the car. At least that way the EMTs would know who to call.

As her 89th birthday approached last August, Dair noticed that her NC drivers license was due to expire. There's no license testing facility in her county, but a mobile unit comes to town once a week, so in July she went to renew her license. Thankfully NC does not automatically renew a drivers license for elderly folks and requires that they take a test. Dair failed the test. Undaunted, she had her grandson drive her to the neighboring county, where she took the test again. Failed again. As they were leaving the testing office, she announced very loudly to her grandson, "well, just see if they can catch me."