Time's are a changin'

S got her Learner's Permit last week. So it is strange to see her get in on the driver's side and back out of the driveway. Strange, okay, maybe not that word, but a little scary. I am glad I am not in the car right now! She is driving with her dad for hours and then next summer she will be taking Driver's Education and then getting a restricted driver's license.

I can remember when I was her age and my mom rode with me. She had lots of patience. Oooh, not me. I remember it was in 1970 when I took Driver's Education, slightly older than S. We drove with a teacher (a brave football coach, as I recall) but they had a brake built into the passenger side of the car. I remember going around the cones and getting used to power steering. It was scary for me! Then I remember the little simulators we had. It was a large trailer complete with steering wheels, clutches, brakes, turn indicators, and gears. We would watch a film and "drive" with the film. I remember that my "car" kept dying on me as I could never understand the clutch/brake system.

After I took Driver's Ed (by the way I flunked it). I had to wait and take my driver's test to get my license a year later. I was a horrible driver. I once hit my high school Principal's son's car (I was driving down the street a little too fast and hit MM's car while he was at football practice). I was SOOOO embarrassed!! I never lived that down (okay, maybe 36 years later I have!). Then I had another accident on a busy intersection in H town that now has a traffic light. My car was broadsided. I was sooooo scared. The day after I must have had a delayed reaction and was pretty sick to my stomach. (I wonder why?)

My insurance was costly and so my parents banned me from driving, which at that point I really didn't care. I finally got to drive my freshman year of college. When I was a sophomore in college I got a car with a stick shift (the clutch and brake thing that I hated). I got that set up because it was cheaper. In fact I had a stick shift in my autos for nearly 19 years after that. I got so I liked the clutch/brake combination.

So now my S is driving. I know she will be careful. But it's the other guy you have to watch out for and there is a lot of highway driving out here. That's what scares me as a parent. Letting your children grow and hoping they keep safe.