Day 15

I made a “C” in Driver’s Ed.

We were lucky enough to have it taught at my high school for a term during our freshman year, so we didn’t have to take it from an outside agency on our own hours or our own dime.

However, this meant two things:  one, it was taught by a coach and two, you were with all of your friends.  That was a dangerous combination, especially in a small town small school.  Classroom lectures were filled with laughter and sarcasm, and driving hours included practical jokes and stops for ICEE’s.  Believe it or not, we all learned to drive quite well and responsibly in spite of it all.

That “C” was always the black mark on my high school record. Though thankfully it didn’t count on my transcript and has always been kind something to joke about.  But the truth is that my Driver’s Ed term occurred during the same school year as the death of my mom.  All of my grades suffered then, because... well, you know.

Sometimes people do things we don’t understand or act a certain way that may be out of character simply because we don’t know the backstory.