My 91 year old mother in law was caught driving with a suspended license. She never told the family that her license was suspended. In any case, she had promised not to drive and my husband has been taking her to church, doctor appointments, and other errands. All that was not enough for her and she has been sneaking the car out for the past year.
She was caught last Tuesday because she passed a POLICE CAR too closely and almost knocked off the side mirror. She now has to go to court on the morning on Christmas Eve and my husband will be accompanying her.
To all who say "take the keys away", it is way more complicated that that. She is an independent elder, living on her own and paying her own bills and taking care of her home. There are multiple copies of the keys available to her.
She is not repenting for her actions and plans to fight to get her license back. She is in very deep denial about her driving abilities even after failing the driving evaluation last year.This is putting a damper on Christmas as it did last year when we were dealing with her.
The police now know her and will be on the look for her if she dares drive again without her license. The next time they will impound the car.
Eldercare is more stressful than the teen years if you ask me!
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Yeah, it's 2012!
12 years ago
3 comments:
God bless her, she sounds like a nightmare..lol. My uncle is 86 & still driving, very independent & a bit of a horror as well. Should he feel sick in the middle of the night, instead of going downstairs to my cousin, he will drive over the bridge into Brooklyn to the VA Hospital. My cousin is helpless to do anything about it. He tries but it just doesn't sink in that he is putting not only himself in danger but others as well. God help us! Try to have a great, peaceful Christmas anyway..on YOUR terms!
I laughed when I read this, but I know it isn't funny. An elderly friend of ours drove to a doctor's appointment on a license that had expired five years before. He put the car in reverse and rammed the building. Everyone came rushing out. The doctor said, "But Hugh is not supposed to be driving!" Hugh's wife, Shirley, continued to drive after Alzheimer's set in. She'd go off somewhere and worry Hugh terribly when she didn't return when expected. She kept getting lost, of course. Eventually, she, too, put the car in reverse by mistake and ended up in the creek across the road from their house.
Can't someone disconnect the battery? My father was really mad when we told him he couldn't drive. His doctor initiated the paperwork for us, so he couldn't blame us. He stopped driving, thank goodness.
At least the police know her. Has anything happened since you last wrote?
How was your Christmas?
And in my world the jury is out on the eldercare vs the teen years. My daughter is.....
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