I had my very first driving lesson today. My husband agreed to teach me the basics. I was a little doubtful at first. I didn’t think it was a good idea to let him teach me how to drive because I was afraid I’d get into his nerves and he would be impatient and agitated with me. I reminded him several times before our session to have more patience when teaching me.
So we went to get the rental car from my projectmate, Arvin at IMT Apartments and went to the parking lot of the nearby store, At Home (formerly Garden Ridge). I was happy to see that there wasn’t a single car parked. A great day for my first day of driving lesson.
My husband, Derek, first taught me how to:
1. adjust my seat so I am comfortable to move my feet and turn the steering wheel
2. adjust the mirrors so I can see the cars at the back, at my right, and at my left
3. step on the gas and keep it on a steady state (this was the hardest for me). The car was still parked when he was trying to teach me this so the car didn’t move when I stepped on the gas.
4. step on the brake
5. turn the steering wheel to the right, left, and straight ahead
Finally when I was comfortable with stepping on the gas and keeping it at 1.5, he allowed me to switch to Drive. When he told me to release the brake, I got a little startled that the car started to move. Well, you can’t blame me, after 31 years of existence on Earth, it was my very first time to be on the wheel of a car (ATV didn’t count). So I told him I wasn’t ready yet. But he told me I had to calm myself down and relax. I was shaking! I could hardly hold my feet steady because they were shaking and my hands were cold as ice. I was so nervous. Excited. Scared. I didn’t want to hurt my husband nor the car nor anybody else.
But Derek told me we will be fine. The car is moving slowly. Anyone can walk faster than the car. Lol. We were moving at 5MPH.
So I trusted myself and my instructor and released the brake. I turned the wheel left and right when he told me to. I was doing pretty well, doing left turns, right turns, and going straight ahead. Finally he trusted me enough to allow me to hit on the gas but just a little bit. Fifteen minutes before our first session was over, I was a little bit more confident. It was a good day. My dear husband, the love of my life was patient enough to teach me. Someday I’m going to look back at this day and smile. 🙂 This is how I started to drive.
My Lane 