Asleep at the Wheel

Summary

An older man reflects on his experience of falling asleep at the wheel during a long drive, prompting him to consider the realities of aging and the need to adapt his lifestyle accordingly.

Abstract

The author, on the brink of his seventieth year, shares a personal account of a near-miss incident where he fell asleep while driving a motorhome. This event serves as a stark awakening to the vulnerabilities of aging, despite feeling relatively healthy and active. He contrasts his youthful self-perception with the physical signs of aging he observes, such as neck folds and graying hair. The incident has led him to acknowledge the limitations that come with age, including the decision to refrain from long-distance driving. He ponders on the wisdom gained with age and the importance of heeding the signs of one's body, while also expressing a reluctance to cling to youth or ignore the realities of aging.

Opinions

The author views aging as a process of becoming the person one should have been, quoting David Bowie.
He believes in the importance of reflection and learning from personal experiences, particularly those that highlight the effects of aging.
The author values safety and self-awareness while driving, and is surprised by his own lapse in attention despite considering himself a cautious driver.
He is introspective about his health conditions, acknowledging the challenges while also recognizing his overall feeling of well-being.
The author expresses a preference for adapting to age-related changes rather than fighting them, suggesting alternatives like train travel over driving.
He laments the lack of a robust rail system in the United States compared to Europe, indicating a desire for more convenient and safe travel options for seniors.
The author agrees with Mitch Albom's perspective that aging involves growth and understanding, not just physical decay.

Asleep at the Wheel

“If you are pining for youth I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist. Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” — David Bowie

Being on the cusp of seventy years, and male, I sometimes feel my mortality around me. My writing on MEDIUM is an attempt to learn about myself. This is my space to REFLECT. My reading on MEDIUM teaches me about others. I write in an attempt to look back and see what my life has meant. It isn’t over. Yet. But there are certainly fewer days ahead than behind. I write to reflect on where I am in my life.

Looking in the mirror I am now beginning to see the neck folds in my skin that characterized my grandad. In the mirror, I see the wasting muscles in my thighs. I lost most of my hair long ago, not that it mattered. And a nap has become a part of my day. Isn’t it strange to feel like your twenty-year-old self and see your seventy-year-old self being reflected back at you when you pass a mirror? When did my beard get gray?

“Today is the oldest you’ve ever been, and the youngest you’ll ever be again.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

My husband and I just completed a marathon drive of about ten hours each direction to visit friends who live states away. I normally don’t think much about a trip such as that. I do the same type of time and mileage drive when I visit my sister who lives the same distance away from me. I have always handled that pretty well with the occasional gas and restroom stops and walking the dog. Now I will never do that stretch of driving in one sitting again.

I fell asleep at the wheel of our motor home. I didn’t know that I was that fatigued. I was in the middle of three lanes approaching an exit, and my husband suddenly exclaimed “What are you doing?” I had drifted into the left fast lane and was drifting toward the center barrier! I snapped back to attention, and I did manage to make the exit safely before we passed it. I can’t believe that this happened! I am always “alert” to how I feel and always stop when I’m tired. I am never one to take chances when driving and feel I am safe.

This had never happened to me before and was unthinkable!

Knowing that this CAN happen, I won’t do a marathon drive again. The astounding aspect of this experience is that I wasn’t feeling drowsy or fighting to stay away or to stay alert. I was feeling ok about the amount of time I had been driving. Sobering experience to say the least.

No one was injured but I also could have wiped out a family with my lumbering big Ford Motor home. Or ended my own or my husband’s life. Could have. Didn’t. I don’t find that comforting in the slightest.

Besides battling 2 hip replacements, Type 2 diabetes, Arthritis, and a sputtering pancreas that has defied diagnosis, I feel pretty good. Or I thought I did! I don’t want to be one of those seniors fighting to stay young, but I don’t want to ignore signs of aging, either.

I’ve always learned from lessons taught me by experience. I won’t ignore this one. Might be time to hang up the keys for long-distance driving, and accomplish those trips via Amtrak. Sigh! If only we had the rail system of Europe! Alas, we don’t.

“It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It’s growth. It’s more than the negative that you’re going to die, it’s also the positive that you understand you’re going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.” — Mitch Albom