There are a lot of things that I take for granted which are a big deal for Mary Elizabeth. On Sunday afternoon, after a lot of thoughtful consideration, Mary Elizabeth drove her car.  Just for a short while in a deserted parking lot – but she got behind the wheel  and for the first time since December, 2009 she drove.

We had talked about this for a while, and I have to admit that I was skeptical that it would happen.  She still has right-sided weakness, meaning that her right leg and especially her right hand don’t have a lot of mobility.  Her pupils are essentially fixed, so that in order to look around, she must move her head in the direction of her gaze.  But despite all of that she would frequently say, “I just want to drive!”  I was as encouraging as I could be, but was doubtful.

So we decided that Sunday would be the day. There is an office park near us with vast parking lots which would be empty on weekends so I chose that spot, thinking there wasn’t that much she could bump into if she lost control.

As the day approached, she started getting nervous, mainly because she was worried she couldn’t do it.  I made sure to encourage her and assured her that even if she got into the car and worked the pedals without even turning the ignition key that it would be a step.  “I’m worried I’ll fail,” she said on the drive over.  Having assured her that there was no such thing as failure, I again wondered whether she could do it, and if we were in store for a huge disappointment.

We got to the lot, and we switched positions. After a little seat adjusting, I had her move her foot back and forth between the brake and the accelerator to get a feel for it.  She gripped the wheel with her left hand, moving it back and forth.  I pretended we were driving and yelled, “there’s a tree!” a few times so she could practice moving her foot quickly from accelerator to brake.

She was a little rusty at first, and her foot had a hard time finding the brake, but after a few minutes she got it and I decided we should take the plunge.

So I turned the key and the engine came to life.  She checked the mirrors and gripped the wheel.  I softly took her through the steps, asking her what she needed to do next.  With her foot firmly on the brake, I shifted the car into drive and we were off!

At first, we only did brake driving, where she would ease up and let the idle move us forward.  Her braking was a little rough at first, but again a few minutes practice had her braking smoothly.  We went from space to space in the empty lot, working on visualizing where the lines were and making sure she wasn’t bumping into any of the imaginary Rolls Royces, Jaguars and Ferraris I had filled the parking lot with – all belonging to very litigious Long Islanders I told her!

Pretty soon she was using the accelerator and turning the car around and going through the narrow gaps which separated the lots.  We had a lot of fun.

Throughout the lesson, Mary Elizabeth was quiet and reserved.  After about 20 minutes, she told me she was tired and we switched places.  I asked her how she felt, concerned that her silence was signaling something wrong.   But that wasn’t the case – she turned to me, beaming, saying she was indescribably happy and grateful for the opportunity.

Two days later she’s still talking about how happy she is and looking forward to our next lesson on Sunday.  I think she’s still pretty far away from driving unaccompanied in traffic – and may never get there – but in the meantime you can find us in a deserted parking lot this Sunday, having a great time!