So you think it is time to tell your elderly parent they should not drive

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/texas-officer-who-shot-armed-93-year-old-fired

I just spoke with my mother in Arizona who is 89 and still driving. My brother is uncomfortable with her driving, but the difference is that he can disable her car, but she has a gun......and she can hit what she is aiming at. I have told this story, but I get this frantic call from my mother that she went to do laundry and on top of her washing machine was a possum.....she goes upstairs and gets a 22 pistol with hollow points and from about thirty feet shoots at the possum....calls me and wants me to check it out because she is scared that the possum is......well playing possum. I go over and bring a pair of channel lock pliers approach the washing machine and grab the possum by the tail, and she had shot the damn possum right between the eyes.

As a kid my dad belonged to gun clubs and we would spend Sunday after church shooting as a family, and my mother was deadly with a pistol, and to this day I can hit anything in the prone position but cannot hit the broad side of a barn with a pistol, so the moral of the story......do not take away driving privileges from armed old ladies.

It has to be difficult giving up that independence. My brother had to disable my mom's car when she became too dangerous on the road. She wasn't very happy about it.   

When we first broached the issue with our Mom, it did not go well. The next day, she hopped in her car and drove to see a friend north of Milton. She didn't tell anyone where she was going. When we finally got her home, she told my sister she was leaving the next day to drive up to see her cousin in Maryland. We had to take her keys that night.

It was so hard. Our mother had always been independent. What's more, she was so very stubborn.   By this time I think she knew she was ill, but she still wasn't ready to give it up. We had several very emotional family sessions about her driving.

I tried to teach her about calling taxicabs for transport. She literally crossed her arms in front of her and said, rather loudly, "No! Never!"

And she never called a taxi, not once.

Not long after this, her illness advanced to the point at which she no longer expressed an interest in driving.

It was still safe for her to stay at home while my sister was working, but my brother-in-law slept during the day due to his work. We decided it was time to give Mom a Life Alert bracelet.

Back in the day, our Mom was a social butterfly. She also had frequent contact with law enforcement in her former position. I can't recall Mom NOT having a police scanner on in her house!

Anyhow, my brother-in-law was awakened one afternoon by a police officer. He went out to the front porch, and there sat my mother, the Queen Bee, smiling and laughing with a whole new generation of cop friends.

Mom told us she "pushed that little button" on her wrist because she was feeling a bit lonely, and thought someone might come by to chat with her.

After this happened again, the Life Alert bracelet had to go, too!

Oh, my Momma. I love and miss her so much. Mom had a wicked sense of humor and was always able to laugh at her own antics, so I know she won't mind my sharing this here.  

I had a couple of neighbors I used to drive to the grocery, doctor's office, etc. And I became my MIL's chauffeur...again, mainly to the doctors, but sometimes to take her to lunch or just out for a drive to get her out of the house. Hire someone to drive your elderly relative who can no longer drive and if no family member is available to assume that responsibility.

PBulldog2 wrote:When we first broached the issue with our Mom, it did not go well. The next day, she hopped in her car and drove to see a friend north of Milton. She didn't tell anyone where she was going. When we finally got her home, she told my sister she was leaving the next day to drive up to see her cousin in Maryland. We had to take her keys that night.

It was so hard. Our mother had always been independent. What's more, she was so very stubborn.   By this time I think she knew she was ill, but she still wasn't ready to give it up. We had several very emotional family sessions about her driving.

I tried to teach her about calling taxicabs for transport. She literally crossed her arms in front of her and said, rather loudly, "No! Never!"

And she never called a taxi, not once.

Not long after this, her illness advanced to the point at which she no longer expressed an interest in driving.

It was still safe for her to stay at home while my sister was working, but my brother-in-law slept during the day due to his work. We decided it was time to give Mom a Life Alert bracelet.

Back in the day, our Mom was a social butterfly. She also had frequent contact with law enforcement in her former position. I can't recall Mom NOT having a police scanner on in her house!

Anyhow, my brother-in-law was awakened one afternoon by a police officer. He went out to the front porch, and there sat my mother, the Queen Bee, smiling and laughing with a whole new generation of cop friends.

Mom told us she "pushed that little button" on her wrist because she was feeling a bit lonely, and thought someone might come by to chat with her.

After this happened again, the Life Alert bracelet had to go, too!

Oh, my Momma. I love and miss her so much. Mom had a wicked sense of humor and was always able to laugh at her own antics, so I know she won't mind my sharing this here.  

Sounds like an awesome and adventurous mom.