Yesterday, I was sharing with a friend my driver’s education experience.  Telling the story to my friend inspired me to write about it today.

I learned how to drive at a high school sponsored driver’s education program which does not exist anymore.  Before budget cuts and reduction of federal dollars, driver’s education was a normal part of the high school curriculum.  So like every other 15 ½ year old, I took a semester long driver’s education class, a required class.  The class included both written and practical work.

Where I lived while attending high school and learning how to drive was a green lush farming and ranching valley. The nestled valley is between the Sierra’s and Pinenut ranges with the state capital to the north and the highest mountains in the Sierra’s to the south. The valley was sparsely populated with roads turning into fast-moving highways only a mile or two out of either town and  because of its location, the highways have large trucks traveling through on a regular basis.

Because of the structure of the driver’s ed class, the instructor who was the resident Basketball and Baseball coach recognized the more nervous student driver’s and allowed them to take the driving final without other classmates present and he allowed occasional passengers.  So on the day of my driving final, I was the lone student with Coach and two seniors on the Baseball team.  He directed me to drive out-of-town south on the highway headed toward the Sierra’s.  It was a cold but sunny November day.

As I drove on the highway, Coach gave me directions.  After about 30 minutes, Coach told me to turn right on the next road.  Even today, if someone gives me verbal directions I have to mentally stop and process which direction the passenger means.  How I have compensated is to research and get my own written directions prior to traveling to a new place. The blessing is that after I drive someplace new, I don’t ever need directions or map again and it does not matter if it was yesterday or last month or last year.  On the day of my driving final, when Coach told me to turn right, I had to process which direction he meant and initially I flipped my turn signal the wrong way.  I corrected my turn signal but did not look in the rear view mirror or look over my right shoulder.  You might wonder why this was important.  It was important because an 18-wheeler was traveling over 80 miles an hour gearing up to travel over a high pass in the Sierra’s. The truck driver saw me turn my left signal and did not notice the correction and started to pass us on the right. My passenger’s noticed I did not check my rearview mirror or look over shoulder so they did.  What happened next was so fast, unbelievably sudden!  The guys yelled or cursed and Coach saw the danger and jerked the steering wheel to the left because I was turning right into the 18-wheeler.  Only one of the rear wheels of the truck hit the car crumpling the front.  The momentum of the collusion caused the car to spin around.  The next few hours are a blur. The next clear memory is Coach making me drive the very next day and every day for the next week along with extra driving for three months in the spring after school.

It took many years to feel comfortable driving and I have to acknowledge how much my sweet husband helped me overcome my driving fears.  I think that is why I smile and laugh when I think about my driver’s education experience.  Because it reminds of the many beautiful fun times my husband and I have spent together and I smile.