Don's Blog Ecstasy 9-23-24

Do you remember when you first got your drivers' license? You went into your drivers test
with a combination of confidence and fear. You knew you were ready but there was that
sliver of doubt. And then you passed. There was ecstasy - the overwhelming feeling of joy
and excitement. You entered into a world of new freedom. I grew up in La Grange, Illinois
and at that time we could get our license at age fourteen and a half.

Well today more than 73 years later I experienced the same feeling. "I passed' the Missouri
drivers license test and am good for three more years - ecstasy at the other end of the age scale
but just as important for freedom.

Just a few thoughts about driving:

My mother taught me to drive on the back roads near our home. Learning to parallel park was
the most difficult. In 1949 when I got my license there were no courses in school. The written test
was easy. And I entered high school driving my folks car.

My first drive to downtown Chicago was most memorable. I was driving my mother. At one point
I found that my left two wheels were stuck in the streetcar tracks and I couldn't get them back on the road.
We were not going fast but we were headed right into an oncoming streetcar. I broke into sweaty fear.
My mind knew we were in trouble. I pulled harder on the wheel to the right and we broke free in time.
The streetcar passed and we continued east into the city, The most miraculous part of the experience was
that my mom did not say one word. I loved her before but now she also was my forever hero.

A more recent driving experience occurred in Estes Park,Colorado, I was coming down the hill from the
Fall River entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. I was going fairly slow near the Stanley Hotel
when a car started edging out from the left. I was almost beyond him when he came out to T-bone me
and I floored it. Incredulously he actually hit me near my gas tank totaling the car. He knocked me to the right
into a stop sign. The driver after checking to see if I was injured told me and the police that he had not
seen me adding that "it had happened before". His insurance company didn't even argue about fault.

That's enough for now but driving adventures are flooding into my memory. We will see which ones will
be added to this blog in the future.

Driving is an adventure and I'm sure you can understand my excitement of remaining on the road with you.