4 years ago I stopped driving.
It was easy initially. I sort of knew it was coming. I was getting nervous about driving and it was difficult and I’d had a few surprise pedestrians and cars appear out of my blind spot side (right eye peripheral ) that made me think maybe it’s time to stop. So other people are safe, including me.
The car then gave up one day. The water pump went.
I sat it on the drive and didn’t take it for looking at anytime soon as I had an eye appointment with the big man a few weeks later.
Call it intuition or just the reality hitting me that I knew the chances of me tootling around in my funny looking car, that was nicknamed, with great affection, the ‘Clown Car’ wasn’t going to be for much longer.
A sense of foreboding.
I wrote a blog post in 2019, one of the first written by myself when I started this blogging idea, to track what happens to my peepers. For myself, but ultimately for other people to understand about their loved ones condition or their own abit better than I could when searching for information when I wasn’t first diagnosed as there wasn’t much.
This was about when I was told not to drive anymore.
It mentioned I’d had some lovely adventures in the car and hoped for more on the bus.
Well apart from the period during lockdown, when I got upset as I was sat here alone and it was soul destroying day after day, no physical contact. No other noise in the house or hustle and bustle from another person. Same place. Same view. I so wanted to go for a drive. A different shop. Another view. A different place. Just local, to a park. Picnic for one. To people watch from a distance.
Other than this. I’ve got used to the train and bus now and still love the novelty of being able to look out of the window. Abit like a doggo. Head to the window having a neb.
I drove for 29 years.
I’m one of the lucky ones with my condition. The fact I was able to drive at all is more than some people will ever have unfortunately.
I still am so utterly grateful, and count my blessings for the late onset I was luckily to have. This didn’t present itself until very late on.
So those adventures I’d hoped for. I do have them still. I just make the journey part of that now I don’t have to concentrate on driving. I look outside and enjoy the view instead.
One Vision Blog 