Letter from Betty Jo: When driving is no longer an option

My friend Betty Jo is a film buff, a traveler, a member of the Breakfast Bunch at Sonny’s and the Cabin Fever Club, and heaven knows what else.  The other day we were on our way to Sutton’s Bay to see Edge of Heaven when she told me that she had had to give up her driver’s license.  This news has been coming for awhile now, but this was it.  The Real Deal.  My heart sank.  I prepared to offer comfort, grief support, rides.  Betty Jo surprised me.  “In a way it’s a relief,” she said.  “Now I don’t have to worry about it anymore!”  She told me how hard she’d studied for her license renewal test.  She’s a master of every highway sign shape there is.  She told me about the letter from her eye doctor attesting to her ability to drive in the daytime. She told me about how the State of Michigan begged to differ. She was really disappointed.  But . . . it’s going to be OK.  Betty Jo is not one to spend a lot of time watching life through the rear view mirror. 

She sent out an email announcement, and I asked her if I could publish it on Torch Lake Views.  (For those of you who don’t live here, let’s just say that the Township’s demographics skew toward the older end of the spectrum, and this whole when-to-stop-driving issue is of more than ordinary interest.)  So here’s Betty Jo on the subject:

This is just an update on my driving ability, in case any of you thought I might be driving into your driveway any time soon. Last week the Macular Degeneration caught up with me. I failed the Michigan driver’s license renewal standards for vision. And no matter how young I dressed or how sweet I was, the Driver Assessment Man was not swayed. Yes, my eye Drs. did their best but in the interest of humanity, I was still denied.

I must confess that, after the initial disappointment, I found it a bit of relief. Driving had been a challenge for some time, but I did not feel that I was a danger to others in the road. I voluntarily haven’t driven at night for years, and I am a safe driver in all ways possible, but it has been a strain. I have purposely not passed other vehicles for several months, and I have driven at whatever speed was the “going speed” on the roads.

However, I feel a weight removed from my shoulders of not having to worry any more that there is something out there that I haven’t seen, that I should have seen.

So, you are all safe on the highways now and I am not morose that I cannot be behind the wheel, so I thought I would share the news.

Love, Betty Jo