Driven Around By The Worst Driver Ever

Driven Around by the Worst Driver Ever.

Until that drive out West, I never understood why Mom called my aunt Harriet “Dizzy” but when Harriet got behind the wheel of the old Chevy convertible to drive me to Tucson, it all came into focus. She was always in motion and moved at a dizzying pace. I was a kid then and never thought I would survive that trip to Tucson to tell this story. She was dizzy alright but surely the worst driver Ever!

We got through the crowded city roads okay even though I soon realized that Aunt Harriet had her own rules of the road. As we sped through several intersections, I suggested she specially attend to the big red signs. “Stop signs are not for folks in a hurry,” she would say as she adjusted her lipstick in the visor mirror. She was a multitasker. She wove in and out of the highway lanes like a downhill slalom skier as I slid lower in the passenger seat and prepared for impact.

She was jubilant when we made it to the open road and she was able to really crank “her baby” into high gear. She loved speed! Fast cars, fast dance and fast food. She was fearless. We flew around the truckers and she leaned on the horn and waved as we flew by. Apparently speed limits were for sissies. Ribbons of concrete stretched before us and many miles to go. Aunt Harriet made note of landmarks along the way and was enchanted by everything. “You never know when you will see a rainbow or spot a unicorn”, she laughed. I missed the points along the way as my eyes were closed and my head bowed in silent prayer.

She talked fondly to her car, congratulating "baby" on each turn, while I whispered earnestly to God. Somehow she managed to get us to Tucson unscathed. I ran to my mother’s loving arms, excused myself to throw up and returned in time to wave goodbye to Aunt Harriet.

Aunt Dizzy eventually married a race car driver who was able to match her pace. One day while speeding up an old country road in New England Dizzy got her very first speeding ticket. The Officer looked at her license and then looked back at her in disbelief. He did not think she looked 90 years old! She gave up driving soon after that day and it took the heart right out of her.




Aunt Harriet lived at a frenetic pace and earned her name Dizzy. Some called her reckless, but I am not so sure now. She sure didn’t miss the sights long the way and one sure has to whip around in a hurry to spot a unicorn! She left me that old Chevy convertible and I shall never forget that road trip. Back then I thought she was the worst driver ever, but now I think maybe she just kept pace with the wind that pulled her to her imagined destiny.