Driving. . .

I took Driver's Ed when I was 14 years old. I had my license at 15 and drove occasionally around Mtn. Home, where we lived, when my parents would let me use the car. Most of my friends were also driving so I didn't lack for a ride even when I wasn't the one doing the driving.

I remember riding out to the base (MHAFB) one afternoon with two of my newly licensed and also 15-year-old friends. We lost track of time, as 15-year-olds tend to do, which was a problem due to the fact that none of us could drive after dark because we weren't 16 yet. Jennifer, who was driving her mother's car, knew we had to do some quick thinking to keep her out of trouble. In hindsight, it was a bad decision, but at the time, it made perfect sense: we decided we could beat night fall if we just went really fast. Airbase Road is a straight stretch that is very tempting to speed on under normal circumstances but when dusk is chasing you and your permit states very clearly that you cannot drive after dark, it's pretty easy to hit 89 mph. Of course we got pulled over. Of course she had her freshly printed license revoked. Of course we all got in big trouble and probably didn't drive for several months after that. Fortunately, we didn't die.

That was just one of many incidents that I was involved in as a young driver. I also backed into a Camaro, slid through a snowy intersection into a stop sign and pulled a hit and run in a parking lot. I confessed about the hit and run to my parents, thankfully, which helped a little bit when the police officer showed up at our door.

So . . . I've been a little nervous about Zach driving alone even though the circumstances are quite different; he's several years older than I was when I began driving solo AND he's much, much more cautious than I ever managed to be. Unfortunately, I keep hearing news stories about teen drivers getting involved in terrible driving accidents. I realize that there are extenuating circumstances that probably don't apply to Zach but still, I worry. I guess it's the mom in me. . .

I know I just need to get used to it because we have officially given Zach the Subaru and it's even running pretty well. For now.

I'm not sure which I'll worry about more: Zach's driving or the reliability of the Subaru to get him to his destination. . .