Thomas, Take the Wheel!

We arrived at the Driving Centre at 4:15 pm.  There was a line up and we had to take a number.  Shortly after we sat down, Thomas school friend arrived and took a number.  We chatted while we waited our turn.  Thomas was well prepared:  he already finished eight in class driving lessons and he completed several practice tests online.

The lady finally called our number.  Thomas filled out some paperwork, then completed a vision test, calling out the numbers he saw on a contraption that looked like a giant viewfinder.  The lady announced:  "That will be $146.00 please," and my jaw dropped.  I think it cost $10.00 when I wrote the test 31 years ago.  Nevertheless, driving is a necessary skill.  I paid the fee.

Thomas took the test paper into the exam room while I waited in the waiting area.  The minutes ticked by.  I watched as the other teenagers returned their test one by one and were called to the front one by one.  "Congratulations!" said the lady behind the desk.  Three people in a row passed the test.  We were on a roll.  I prayed that Thomas would make it four.

At 5 pm, the worker behind the desk asked another worker to take the exam papers away from the remaining test writers.  I prayed that Thomas was just about to finish.  "Did you get a chance to finish?" I asked him as he walked out of the exam room.  "Just," he said.  "Thomas Jonasson" called the worker behind the desk.  "You passed!" she announced.  "Congratulations, Thomas" I said, high fiving my son.  Thomas smiled, both joy and relief spreading across his face.

"This calls for a pizza to celebrate," I said, as we drove out of the parking lot.  We ordered a pizza at the neighbourhood pizzeria.  There's nothing like seizing the day.  While we waited for it to bake, I let Thomas get behind the wheel and he drove us down a back street to Lynden Park Mall.  Then he circled the back parking lot and returned down the back street to the pizzeria.  Then he drove us up Brantwood Park Road to our house.  Congratulations, Thomas!

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Thomas' First Driving Lesson

It seems like just yesterday that I attended my first in class driving lesson.  It was February of 1983.  I remember that my brother Bill had brought home chicken pox from school and given them to me. But I was bound and determined not to miss any of my driving lessons.  So I went anyway.  Luckily, I had a moderate case.  By April, my sister Lisa took me for my first in car driving lesson.  I drove around the parking lot of Limeridge Mall in our family station wagon.  

Now it is Thomas' turn.  Sunday morning I took him to Lynden Park Mall and he drove our Focus around the back parking lot three times.  He was so proud of himself that he didn't make any mistakes.  Tonight, I drove him downtown for his first in class lesson.  Mike, a nice man with a cowboy hat, registered Thomas.  I peeked into the classroom -- it was packed!  Most of Thomas' classmates are boys.  I don't know whether that's a coincidence or not.

So, he's officially started down the road to his licence.  I don't know whether I'm ready for the questions:  "Mom, can I have the car for school?"  "Mom, can I have the car for a date?"  I don't know if I'm ready to sit in the passenger seat, pressing on an imaginary brake as Thomas narrowly misses a curb.  I don't know if I'm ready for the worrying, the staying up late waiting for him to come home.

But getting your licence is a rite of passage.  All of my siblings and I started at 16.  We loved it!  And the younger you learn to drive, the easier you pick it up.  I know too many people who started later in life and turned out to be nervous drivers.  So,buckle up, Brantford, Thomas is coming!

Note:  Visit http://fatherhood.about.com/od/dadsandteens/a/teach_driving.htm for tips about teaching your teenager how to drive.

Congratulations, Cassandra!

http://www.beckishort.co.uk/marriage-proposal-ideas.php

I remember the day my niece, Cassandra, was born.  She had dark eyes and dark hair.  Her hair stuck straight up on her head like a porcupine.  I remember the flowered dress she wore to my wedding, still a babe in her mother’s arms.  I remember her running around double fisting bologna at the Germania Club after my mother-in-law passed away.  "Go! Go! Go!" was the toddler’s motto.  

Cassandra made beautiful music with the Hamilton Children's Choir.  She and her sister Amanda filled the old St. James Anglican Church with song.  Cassandra helped her sister blow out the candles on their birthday cake at their double birthday party.  Around the time she turned seven, she had just learned the formula for a joke and she made up one herself:  “What do you call a girl standing on a cat? --  A statue.”  Rob and I got a kick out of that one. 

Cassandra and her sister munched on chocolate Easter bunnies at my house on Thanksgiving Day 1998.  I wondered how they lasted for six months in their fridge without being gobbled up.  Later that year, when Rob and I were in the process of adopting our newborn son, Cassandra suggested that we take Thomas to Grandma and Grandpa's house for three weeks to hide out, just in case his birth parents changed their mind.  That's how much she wanted a new cousin!  

Cassandra used to come for sleepovers at my house with her sister.  Rob used to take them to Lynden Park Mall shopping sometimes.  Their favourite store was Claire’s.  Cassandra always did have a flair for fashion. 

I remember Cassandra’s first communion, dressed in a pretty white gown, her dark hair in ringlets.  I remember her grade 8 Graduation.  I remember her Grade 12 Graduation.  She was the life of the party! 

Tonight, to the strains of a pianist, cellist, guitarist and three violinists, Cassandra got engaged.  An ensemble of Kyle's friends played her favourite song, "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die".  

What happened to the past 23 years?  Congratulations, Cassandra!  May God bless you and Kyle in your forthcoming marriage!

                                

"Heroes get remembered, but legends never die" quote by Babe Ruth courtesy m1.behance.net.