Nana Flashback (revised)

In honor of Mother's Day I am revisiting three pieces from last year. This one about my maternal grandmother and two about my mom.

Before my grandmother became tangled in the web of Alzheimer's there were various incidents that were either early signs of the disease or normal changes that come with age. As with all seniors citizens there came a time when her driving skills began to erode and we as a family were left to decide when the keys should be taken away.

We were luckier than quite a few families who have made their way into the headlines after an aged parent was involved in some sort of automobile accident. We put off the inevitable for to long but fortunately God or fate smiled upon my grandmother because when her accident occurred no one was hurt.

One early spring morning she climbed into her yellow sedan anticipating a relaxing afternoon at her Senior Citizens club. At this point in the story it is important to understand the layout of her property. Her garage was attached to the house with the back wall of the garage facing Tenth Avenue. In order to reach the street she needed to back out of the garage and loop around the house

Placing the key in the ignition, she started the car and allowed the engine to warm up. Nana only drove cars with automatic transmissions and when she went to select reverse, she went right past the R and ended up in neutral. She depressed the accelerator and of course nothing happened. At this point she must have panicked because when she shifted gears again she went right into drive with the engine fully revved. The skid marks she left covered floor of her garage and went right thru the wall.

In the front yard located just outside the rear wall of the garage were three trees. Somehow she missed all of them and continued across the lawn. Separating the lawn from the sidewalk was a low brick and wrought iron wall. She went through that like a hot knife through warm butter and into the street.

Tenth Avenue was fairly busy but fortunately no one was coming in either direction. As she crossed the street she managed to regain some control over the car and somehow turned the steering wheel hard to the right. She made a u-turn jumped the curb and flipped the car onto the passenger side door coming to rest right in the middle of her own driveway.

When the police arrived she was sitting on the passenger door calmly asking for someone to help her out of the car. She walked away without a scratch. The only casualty: her driver's license.

First appeared: May 13, 2004

Revised: May 6, 2005