Driver Independance

First, thank you all for the comments about yesterday's post. Many shared their own stories of loss, health crisis, and echoed thoughts on the importance of valuing the life we have, and not taking anything for granted. I've had some restless nights, not because of worry or anxiety, but because my brain is so full of the possibilities yet to come for me, my family, and people I care about, and I am thinking towards the future.

So what does that future mean to me today? Laundry, piles of it, are staring at me when I look down the stairs to the makeshift laundry folding station on a card table. It's good though. It's my day off, and I will put on some music, perhaps my favorite BBC World News (where I pretend I am a proper English homemaker), and tackle the folding, having it all put away before the end of day. I will be making a huge crock pot of Sloppy Joe's for a visiting college orchestra choir, setting up, serving, and cleaning up, before getting to enjoy the concert.Other parents are bringing salads, fruit, mac and cheese, and a few hot dishes. Last fall when we hosted a different college group, there was so much appreciation on having a home cooked meal from the kids, who had been eating fast food for several days. DD2's group will perform a few songs with the college students. The sun is not fully up, and while it looks a bit gray, it has a hint of spring vibe. I'll bundle up at some point before going to the school and take pup for a good long walk. 

This week marked a full month of DD2 having her drivers license. She didn't have a parking permit the first week, but has been driving herself since March 7th. It dawned on me when I got in the car yesterday morning, radio station still set to my public radio station and not the pop music station we compromise on when in the same car, how much I miss the 15 minute drives to school with her in the morning. On a few days, she was a less than responsive teen, tired from staying up too late or rising to early to finish housework, but most of the time, it was undivided attention between the two of us. We'd laugh and then discuss something dumb on the radio that made us think of something else. She would describe the latest slang. We'd brainstorm ideas for dinners at night or weekend plans. I'd get the latest news on her friends.Those mornings are done now and I miss them. Granted, I am not living my schedule on her schedule so much any more. I leave to and from work early some days and late others. DH and I aren't constantly juggling  phone calls figuring out who has to pick her up when and where she needs to be next. The driving independence has greatly changed our family dynamics. 

Still, I am so grateful to experience this right of passage with my youngest, as I did with the older two. All are good drivers, and despite her inexperience, I worry more about her risk in a car due to other drivers.That risk would be the same in a car with me or DH. I can clearly remember my first driving experience as a newly licensed driver, taking country roads to a town hall to help pour coffee and clean up at my older sisters friends wedding reception. My younger sister and I deviated from instruction before coming home, and drove into town to the A&W root beer stand. It was such a great feeling of Independence. As much as I miss my morning drives with her, I know my daughter has that same feeling. What a feeling!
 

From Allstate-found this a bit too accurate!