My #1 Passenger...

Being with Brandy in the same city has been wonderfully awesome. And now that she’s here there’s so much we enjoy doing together. We love going out to eat, catching a movie, and shopping at the mall... We venture out and about with friends, travel to Chicago quite often, and ride downtown to work together on a daily basis. As you see, we drive A LOT.

It didn’t take long for me to pick up on B’s habits while I’m driving. If I’m at a stop sign looking left, then right, and then left again, B is right alongside me doing the same. If I’m at a median intersection waiting for an opening between cars, B is next to me looking for the right opportunity to enter as well. Point is, I quickly noticed that B is a side-seat driver.

My first stubborn Leo-like thought was, Why is she looking too? I’ve had my license over twenty years and never had an accident-I got this. So of course me being me, I called her out on it. B’s response was obvious and expected; she was only double checking to make sure I “had it.” Me: I got it. Since then B has attempted to minimize her passenger seat driving ways, but every now and then I catch her in my peripheral when she must think I can’t see. It makes me smile inside.

See, I finally understand the greater meaning behind B’s actions. She’s not trying to take the wheel and drive for me, she’s simply my look-out. My support.  She checks my blind spot if or when I fail to see. I say this literally and metaphorically. In my everyday movements she’s always there, allowing me to travel the road that only I can, while she silently meets me at every turn, intersection and sometimes road block. She speaks up if there’s oncoming danger I don’t see. And if it’s too late, she’s my seatbelt keeping me safe from harm. If I happen upon an unexpected dead end, she helps me map out an alternate route to ensure I reach my destination. She’s my side view mirror, air bag and GPS all wrapped in one, there for my assistance, protection and guidance as needed.

I no longer cringe when I feel B peeping traffic with me while I drive. It’s a constant reminder that as I journey my life’s roads around mountains, through valleys, and along smooth stretches of highway, I have a partner buckled in at my side, taking in the view right with me. J

© Nikki Rashan, July 2011