Setting in Idle

Everyone knew it was time for Grandma to stop driving. Everyone, that is, but Grandma. At 93, her health was deteriorating and she was beginning to forget things, but these "insignificant" matters were not going to stop this Iowa "silver fox" from getting behind the wheel. If you think taking car keys away from a teenager is difficult, you haven't seen anything until you've tried getting them away from the over 90 crowd. Since sending Grandma to her room or withholding her allowance was not an option, we didn't have much bargaining power. Not that we didn't try. We cajoled and we nagged. Various family members even took her car keys but mysteriously another set would appear out of thin air. And amazingly, Grandma could always find this new set, even though she couldn't remember which key actually started the car. When the doctor ordered her to stop driving, Grandma took matters into her own hands. "They didn't require licenses when I started driving so I really don't need one now," became her new motto. "If I can't drive I might as well die," became, yet, another battle cry. As determined as we were to get Grandma to stop driving, she was even more determined to keep her license. When it came time to renew her license, instead of asking one of the family to take her to the Department of Motor Vehicles, she asked a neighbor -- conveniently circumventing those of us who would have told the inspector not to renew her license. In short, we soon realized that we were losing the battle of the car keys to a woman who had lived through four wars and the depression. In retrospect, it was hardly a surprise. One particularly hot summer day, I called Grandma. When she answered the telephone, she sounded so sad and forlorn. "What's the matter, Grandma?" I asked. "I can't start my car," she exclaimed. "Grandma why were you trying to start your car? You know you're not suppose to be driving," I said, about to give her the full lecture on the dangers of driving. "Now before you get in an uproar and start telling me stories about dangerous old lady drivers who wipe out entire families on a trip to the ice cream shop, I want to explain," she snapped. "There are times that I need to feel like I'm still able to do the things I used to do. I need to feel useful and alive again. At those times, I take my keys and start up the car and sit outside in the driveway, behind the wheel, with the window open, and just let the motor run. "I listen to the hum of the engine and remember the people I've seen and the places I've been. And sometimes, when I feel particularly daring, I take new turns and forbidden roads just to prove to myself that while I may be an old dog, I can still learn new tricks. You know, sometimes sitting in idle just letting your motor run is better than the trip itself. You should try it someday." And you know, Grandma is right. Sometimes just sitting in idle and letting our motor run is the best medicine we can take as we drive down the crazy, fast-paced lanes known as the highway of life.