Michael just did something that only a cold heartless teenager would do.  He came upstairs and dropped the drivers education registration form on my bed.

Doesn’t he know that the thought of him entering the world of roundabouts and screaming sirens will keep me up the rest of the night?  From the time he gets behind the wheel of that ugly drivers ed car until I lose my hearing completely every time I hear a siren I will assume he has been in a horrific accident and crying for his mother.

I remember distinctly when his sister Ashley started driving he wore his batting helmet in the car every time she drove.  He said you could never be too safe so I know he comprehends fear. Can’t he see fear in my eyes?

I am not ready for Michael to drive.  I love driving him around, radio blaring and listening to him and the basement gang talk about their lives.  I know how things change when they drive away by themselves.  You miss out on all the little intimacies that get confessed in the safety of the car.  Letting go is so hard..can’t I just keep him safely buckled in beside me for just a little longer?