Reminiscing--Learning to Drive

Earlier this evening I noted a folder in my email program, titled "A Year In Our Thoughts." It's a holdover from a Yahoo writing group I was a member of nearly 6 years ago. We were asked to write something at least monthly, I think. I started reviewing some of the posts I and others had written, and the thought occurred to me that I could post my writings here. So I'm going to start with the one I wrote about one of my twin daughters and her experiences learning how to drive. Keep in mind that this is almost 6 years old now. K has been driving for almost 4 1/2 years (I think, maybe it's 5 1/2). I mention that H has shown no interest in driving, but in truth she has been a licensed driver for two years now. And our son is also now a licensed driver, although he doesn't particularly care for driving. Pretty much drives just to work and back, although he has driven to Powell's in Portland (after having his license for only a month or so), as well as out to Tigard. Brave soul!

Here goes....................................

I am the mother of 18 (almost 19) year old twin daughters, Heidi and Katie. They are the last of our six children, and have been a joy (mostly) to raise, They've been somewhat different than most, including our other 4 children, in many ways.

One of the ways they are "different" is in getting their drivers licenses. Now I'm sure that most of us could hardly wait to get our learners permit when we reached 15 or so, including me. I remember going to the Motor Vehicles Dept. the day after my 15th birthday to take the written test and procure this important piece of paper. Three of our older children were also champing at the bit to do this. Our only son waxed hot and cold on this issue, sometimes he wanted it, sometimes he could care less. At almost 21, he still does not drive.

The twins' excuse was that "it's scary to drive." The cries of "We're gonna die" from the back seat of our car on many occasions often prompted laughs from their dad and I, who have driven more years than we care to think about, and knew that we were nowhere near "dying."

However, on May 1st of this year, Katie, the youngest twin, decided to get her learners permit. I suspect it was mainly to have identification so that she could open up a savings and checking account, but nevertheless, she made an important "growing up" move. It took a couple of weeks, but she finally decided to go on her first drive.

Not willing to trust her to the streets, Dad took her up to our church parking lot, which is very large, and allowed her to practice some basic maneuvers there, without endangering anyone else. The next session was simlar, with the exception that Dad let her drive home from Target (a sum total of about 3 blocks, but it does require crossing a busy street with a traffic light).

She's gone out with her dad several times now, usually early on a Saturday morning, to practice. She's even gotten to drive on the freeway once. The car has always come back in one piece, so I suspect that she is doing alright. This past Monday night, she took us all on a small drive. And we all returned in one piece. I wasn't tempted to cry, "We're gonna die" on this drive, but I may yet get my chance for payback.

Did we all start out like this in the beginning of our driving careers? Very slow, jerky starts, in spite of the car having an automatic transmission? Unsure of when it was safe to "go?" Driving about 5 miles below the speed limit? I'm sure we did, but having been a licensed driver for almost 39 years, those days are a dim memory. I hope she is keeping track of this phenomenum in her journal, so that in future years when her children are learning to drive, she can have something to look back on, to remind her of her youth, and to show her children that "some things never change."

As for her twin sister, Heidi still has not gotten her permit. She hasn't expressed any interest in it, in spite of being driven around by her sister. Oh well, perhaps she'll learn one day, maybe out of necessity, or maybe because she wants to be more independent. We shall see.