Lord, we arrived here fast.
It started with mini-cars. Then toy tractors, plastic lawn cars and hand-in-hand walks to see the semis parked down the street. We knew he鈥檇 be driving for real one day.
At eight or nine, he sat on our couch. His grandfather鈥檚 tablet passed between us. 鈥淣ana! Turn the other way! The OTHER WAY!鈥� Benjamin鈥檚 voice lifted a few decibels. A second later my green racing car crashed and burned on the edge of the digital racing track.
He hooted. Snatched the tablet back. 鈥淣ana. You crashed AGAIN. How come you can鈥檛 steer right?鈥�
鈥淚 can steer right,鈥� I said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 left I can鈥檛 manage.鈥� He grimaced.
At the time, he and his family lived only about three hundred steps from the Preacher and me. Whenever he wished, he motored over on his bike, stunting all the way. 鈥淏enjamin, don鈥檛 do that! It鈥檚 hard on the tires. And it鈥檚 a bad habit. Dangerous if you were driving a car.鈥�
He grinned, made a deliberate skid and looked back at the mark on the gravel. 鈥淲OW! Did 鈥榶a see that one, Nana?鈥�
I saw. I dreaded. I also paid close attention to the way he drove his grandfather鈥檚 three-wheeled mobility scooter. All over our large yard, down the road and back into the driveway (on two wheels). I鈥檓 sure he and his younger sister robbed that elderly Triumph of at least a year of life.
The lawn tractor we shared with his folks followed. 鈥淵ou can drive it when you can reach the brake,鈥� we鈥檇 told him. Every spring he climbed on. Almost laying prone, he stretched for the brake. We barely mowed our lawns after he reached it. I鈥檝e never seen a John Deere lawn tractor move so quickly.
He got his learner鈥檚 license at fifteen. Throughout most of the pandemic, several times a week I picked him up for his part-time job and my full-time one in the city, just over a half hour away. Our hours meshed well, and I usually let him drive home. Sometimes we even stopped for ice cream or burgers.
I鈥檓 a decent driver. But like other parts of me, my driving habits have grown flabby in the almost five decades since my own driving lessons. Benjamin didn鈥檛 hesitate to set me straight when I had the wheel.
Accepting driving advice from a fifteen-year old humbles one. Most often, I simply thanked him for the reminder, but I had to bite my tongue sometimes. 鈥淚 hope you remember all these things when you鈥檙e driving alone,鈥� I told him one day, piqued that he鈥檇 called me on my less than three second full stop. Again.
But I鈥檓 a better driver for the fresh perspective. I鈥檝e told him so.
It took two tries, but he got his licence at barely sixteen. Shortly after, a white hatchback pulled into our driveway. Benjamin slipped from behind the wheel. 鈥淲anna go for a drive, Nana?鈥� He鈥檇 bought and paid for the car with his own money, he told me.
It seems my free driving lessons are over. He鈥檒l take himself to work most days now. I鈥檒l miss him.
Lord Jesus, hold onto that young man on all the roads ahead. And鈥hanks. Not every grandmother is so blessed.
