What I Really Know About Driving Maggy Takes Manhattan - Learning to ...
Driving Maggy Takes Manhattan
Most people learn to drive at age 16 I was 55
I learned to drive at age 55. Maggy Simony currently cruises Florida's coast.—Photo by Brian Smith. At the time, I lived 50 miles east of New York on Long Island. Every night, I saw the same television ad. A man with a New York accent described his wife’s transformation after taking lessons at a driving school in Manhattan. “She can drive up mountains, down into valleys! She’s never home!” My husband had died a year earlier. I had never sat behind the wheel of a car—I simply had no curiosity. One evening, I impulsively called the school, made an appointment, took the commuter train, and reached the school’s office by 9 the next morning. The city’s anonymity appealed to me. “Where’s your permit?” asked the man. I had never thought about that, but signed up for six lessons anyway when advised I could get the permit down on 14th Street. Another unknown: I’d have to take a written test first. No problem. I read the study book over lunch and passed the test by 2 p.m. Back at the driving school, I had yet to focus on what a lesson in a city would be like. Clueless. I was astonished when the teacher put me in the driver’s seat. “What did you expect?” asked the instructor. “Maybe a big parking lot?” I said. That first day, the instructor talked nonstop, gripped the passenger-side controls—and I drove. We headed south to 34th Street, crossed town, turned north to 42nd Street. Driving by all those burlesque houses and porno movies of pre-Rudy Giuliani days, I began laughing so hard that the instructor had to pull off to a parking space. It was the first time I remember laughing spontaneously since Bill’s illness and death. I could picture him, looking down, amused—“Maggy, what in hell are you doing!” I took one more lesson, then confessed to my friends Chris and Aud what I was up to in Manhattan. They were horrified. “We’ll teach you here!” And—brave women both—they did. Now I’ve reached 88, and have never caused a single accident. I’ve pledged to give it up—driving, that is—at 90. The AARP Bulletin’s "What I Really Know" column comes from our readers. Each month we solicit short personal essays on a selected topic and post some of our favorites in print and online. Maggy Simony is a reader from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Cancel You are leaving AARP.org and going to the website of our trusted provider. The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits. Your email address is now confirmed. You'll start receiving the latest news, benefits, events, and programs related to AARP's mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age. You can also by updating your account at anytime. You will be asked to register or log in. Cancel Offer Details Disclosures
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