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Chevy suburban, and he caused many accidents all over town. Since we live in a rather small community, and everyone knows everyone, most people knew to look out for this man, but there were still some fender-benders and such. So my friend went to the chief of police and asked him if he could talk to her dad about his driving. He told her that her father had passed his driver's test (how that happened, we aren't sure) and there was nothing he could do. Another friend told me that the police chief came to him, friend to friend, and said, "It's time to have the talk with your mother about no longer driving." The man asked the chief to do it for him and was told with a smile, "I'm sorry, but you are on your own with this." So my friend had "the talk" and told his mother she could no longer drive.

This has got to be one of the hardest issues we face with our "seniors." The car does spell "freedom" for them... and independence. My 96-year-old grandmother has a best friend who just turned 90, and she is still driving. She told me recently that she drove several of the little ladies to a friend's house to play dominoes, and she said, "There were five people in my car, and I was the only one without a walker." I asked what she did with the four walkers, and she said, "I just folded them up and put them in my trunk!" When the day comes that HER son has "the talk" with her, I wonder what those other little ladies will do - if they are still alive. This dear soul represents their last vestige of independence from their children and grandchildren - and a ride to many places they want to go.

I take my grandmother to get her hair done each Thursday, and while she is there I buy her groceries and run any other errands she needs. However, she "supplements" these trips with rides to the store with her friend (the 90-year-old). In fact, one Thursday I dropped her off at home and got her settled, and then I went to Wal-Mart to buy my OWN groceries. I looked up and my grandmother was coming toward me, pushing a buggy. She had hitched a ride with her friend, and she was buying "a few things." I am certain I have no idea how many "outings" these ladies make - or where they go - and I pray they do not have an accident and hurt themselves or anyone else.

It seems that quite often, an "incident" spurs the submission of the car keys... as in the case of my Mam-maw and her stint in the nursing home. I know a lady who was driving herself and a friend to the PX at an Air Force base about

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