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65 miles from our home town, and one day she got lost. She didn't have a clue where she was, or how to get home. That was the last time she drove. Sometimes licenses are revoked after accidents. And yes, SOME seniors do just decide to no longer drive.

I've thought about this a lot... what would I do if I was widowed and could not drive myself safely? I have no children, so who would I call? Thankfully I could probably afford to hire someone to drive me... as does my 96-year-old friend, Olive. And I feel certain younger relatives and friends from church would pitch in... but it would be on their timetable and at their convenience, not mine. So I do see how frustrating this is for our seniors... and I try to be as accommodating as I can to my grandmother - and still keep a semblance of a schedule for myself and my household.

I am a firm believer that when we talk about a problem, we should talk about a solution. While there is no cut-and-dried answer to this dilemma, there are some things that could possibly help a bit:

* Make arrangements in your calendar to schedule your senior's errands and act as their chauffeur. I do this for my grandmother on Thursdays. Thankfully I can make this weekday work for both of us. When I was still a business owner, it wasn't as easy - and often I had to take a long lunch hour to get this done without eating up my entire Saturday. Some Thursdays, I can accomplish all of the errands and the trip to the beauty shop in a couple of hours. Other times, the day is filled with doctor visits and other stops, but I try to consolidate as much as I can on this one day.

* As my Mam-maw ages, she tires more easily, so I have learned to do what I can for her by myself, such as grocery shopping, and trips to the pharmacy and bank. Obviously she has to go along to her doctor visits, but whenever her presence is not required, I gently suggest she let me handle the errand for her while she rests and conserves her energy. This also speeds things up for me, as just getting in and out of the car takes twice as long when she is involved.

* If you are completely unable to schedule time to chauffeur your senior, investigate the senior services in your community. Our senior center operates a bus that does door-to-door pickups for trips to shop at Wal-Mart, doctor visits, and lunch at the center. My grandmother's church operates a bus that would pick her up for services and deliver her afterward. (So far, I have not had any luck getting my Mam-maw to use this

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