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I asked my best friend Donna if she would help me conquer my phobia. Donna was delighted to do whatever she could to help me so we decided on a plan of action.

Every day for two months, Donna drove over to my apartment, got out of her car and settled herself in the passenger's side of my car. There Donna would find me sitting in the driver's seat, my hands and knees shaking and half sick to my stomach. "It's going to be fine," she'd say in a comforting voice. "We'll just take this one step at a time!" And that was exactly how I made it through every day one step at a time!

In the beginning of our two month driving journey, there were some very frightening times for me. I'd be driving down the road, laughing and talking with Donna, when suddenly I'd have to pull the car into a parking lot and cry. Waves of panic seemed to come out of nowhere and I felt as though I was fighting for my very life.

It was during those times of absolute terror that my friend Donna was most caring. She'd sit beside me and allow me to express whatever I needed to express in that moment, never admonishing me for my insanity. Many times I'd be in the middle of my worst panic attack, half hysterical, when Donna's wicked sense of humor would kick in, and I'd find myself laughing uncontrollably. Using jokes and her outrageous slant on life's absurdities, Donna could sometimes break the straggle-hold of my overwhelming fears and I'd snap back into sanity.

There was one good thing about my panic attacks; they never seemed to affect my driving. I was a pretty good driver on the road, so I never really frightened Donna by making serious mistakes. When I'd begin to feel overwhelmed, I'd pull off the road and sit until I composed myself, then I'd continue driving.

Three weeks into my driving sessions, Donna declared, "Let's go to Hermann Park! I know it's your favorite place to hang out and they have some really cool streets around that area." Hermann Park was indeed my favorite place to go, as it was where the Houston Zoo was located. But I only went to the park if someone else was driving because it was in the middle of Houston's Medical Center; one of the most congested places to drive in the city. Donna knew driving in all that traffic would freak me out, but she also understood I had to push through my fear, level-by-level, until I conquered it.

I was pretty calm until we got close to the Medical Center; then that familiar feeling of not being able to breathe pushed all my calmness right out

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