After I got my license, I had to drive.
On the "Pay it Forward" program, I will be giving people rides till I'm 90, and still not have caught up! The very first day I got my first car, I was asked to drive into Austin, at rush hour, in the rain, to pick someone up whose car had died. It broke my heart, but I had to say "no." I was that terrified!
It was 1995 when I got the license. I drove for eight years in constant and total terror. I drove the access roads rather than get on the freeway. I would find back routes, winding through miles and miles of Texas, rather than get on the freeway. Stopping distances at various speeds were always running through my mind. I had two serious wrecks.
In 2003, Jim and I planned a driving trip. We were going to tow the Miata (bought for the trip) behind the motorhome, and go to Shenandoah National Park, and other points of interest to the north and east of there. Unfortunately, we had not done our homework. The Miata, being rear-wheel drive, could not be flat-towed. The motorhome is not big and robust enough to tow a car-laden trailer. We bought a dolly, but, as Miata had to be backed onto it, that didn't work either. Miata's front end was just a tiny bit too long.
If I couldn't bring myself to drive it, we were going to have to leave it at home. I thought about it for about half an hour. Could I do it? Eventually, I decided that Addy would have done it. She may have reached out and given me a little nudge.
We had a wonderful time on the trip! I learned that anywhere a motorhome can go, a Miata can follow. It was fun to be zipping around in a little red convertible with a Bose stereo. I drove 4000 miles that summer!
I still am very cautious in rain. If there's ice, forget it; I'm not going out.
But, on a normal day, in normal weather, if you need a ride, just call me!
I'll bet it was the best thing you ever did, Ronni.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got home with my licence, my mom asked me to go to the T-room (kind of bread and milk place). She knew I had never been in the car alone and was determined to get my confidence up right off the bat.
The store was just across the river in front of our house. She probably knew she would be able to watch me go to the end of the road, across the bridge and up to the store.
That's all it took. I was fine from then on. But then, I was only 18 years old and my sense of mortality had not yet set in.
That's the best time to learn, IMO.
ReplyDeleteYes, my mom started learning in her early thirties. Unfortunately, my brother and I were stuck in the back of the car while my dad taught her.
ReplyDeleteShe was in tears most days.
It was a two-tone Zephyr Zodaic. Cars were so solid and heavy in those days.
That's why I like my Burbie.
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