Driving Lessons

As many kids grow
up, they dream of the day that they too can be like their family
members and drive behind the wheel of a car. We grow up being driven
around by cousins, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and various
other members of our families. When of age to be considered
responsible enough to obtain a license of our own, we want to be able
to repay all those years of being driven around. We want to be able
to drive our family members to run those errands that when we were
younger always ended with us receiving some type of toy or candy. For
some, this opportunity would actually never come because of someone
who was driving recklessly. For myself, I never even had the
opportunity to meet my grandmother because of a reckless driver.

The story that my mom has told me a million times goes a little like
this… Many years before I was born, my grandfather was in need of
surgery. My great aunt, great grandmother and grandmother got my
grandfather into the car to take him for the surgery. While in the
car, they needed to keep him calm because the severity of the surgery
may leave him paralyzed. As my great aunt was driving, my grandmother
was trying to keep my grandfather calm in the back seat as the
sedative they gave my grandfather to keep him calm wasn’t working.
This caused her to take off her seatbelt. On their way to the
hospital, they were going through an intersection and were hit by a
car speeding down the highway. The driver claimed that because of how
foggy it was he couldn’t see anything but in reality, he was most
likely not paying attention to his surroundings. This collision
caused the car that had my family in it to spin around and hit a
telephone pole. At that point, my grandmother was flung out of the
car through the back window. She broke all of her ribs and sliced a
lung. On her way to the hospital, she passed away in the ambulance.
Because of that reckless driver, I never got to meet my grandmother.
I never got to do all of those things that young boys growing up love
to do with their grandmothers.

I learned a few
lessons from this story. The first lesson I learned is an obvious
one, but it is one that not many people listen to. You should always
wear your seatbelt no matter how short of a distance you are driving.
Second, you should always be cautious when you’re driving because
sometimes the other drivers on the road are not as cautious. Third,
before you or someone you care about is leaving, always give them
some sort of acknowledgment to let them know that you care about them
because there is that slight chance that it could be the last time
you are saying those words to that person.