Driving Ms. Shirley

Mom recently took a fall and chipped a piece off her hip; the same hip she broke last February.  An X-ray showed the chip and a physicians' assistant (PA)  gave her the news. She refers to PAs as paras (probably because I worked as a special ed para educator.)  And because she knows it irritates me.

The Para tested her strength in the compromised leg and told her she shouldn't drive anymore.  I know, it's devastating to be told you can't drive, right?  It must make you feel so dependent, and almost trapped.  So, I was glad she had discovered this just as she was leaving for Oregon to visit grown children.  I knew, even before she left, that I needed to extract the key while she was gone, but the thievery didn't weigh too heavy on my mind. (What does that say about me?)

Just as we were loading up for the airport, she reached for her keys to pack them into her gigantic purse.  Quickly, I told her she wouldn't need them as I'd be picking her up when she came back. Three different attempts were thwarted, before we left.  The next day I returned to her house and nabbed the key.

She returned from Oregon, but didn't notice the  key was missing for a few days.  When she did, she phoned, incredulous about where it could be. I had my confession rehearsed, so it came splashing out and included all of the following.

• The para had tested her left leg strength and told her not to drive!
• All of my siblings had told me to do it!  (Boy, isn't that a wimpy excuse?)
• She really hadn't driven much recently.
• I'm just across the street and would drive her anywhere she wanted to go.
• It would leave room in her garage to go through unpacked boxes for the impending garage sale.(At that point, I was reaching for just about any up-side.)

After the initial shock, she recovered from the loss of driving privileges fairly well.  I told her we could trade in both of our cars, and get ourselves a new Subaru that would be safer.  She was thrilled with that idea and so a new Forester is how we tool around town.  She loves the car, and is quick to say so, each and every time we get into it, which is about 3 times a week, maybe more.

But to her, the Audi was the finest car she had ever driven, and continues by saying that driving a manual was the only way a driver could feel the car.  Hopefully she can feel the new Forester from the passenger seat, because all we want is to keep her safe,