Is this Real Life? Life in the Fast Lane

So, if you don’t know from my previous stories, I lost my driving license in 2015. Technically I had not driven a car since 2013, as my last run in with the law was on a moped. Yes, you read that right…moped. How else was a 24-year-old girl to get around to go get her booze either at the grocery store, ABC store, or frequent water holes with all of her fair-weathered friends? Walk? I think not! But, on that faithful day (night), luck (yes I said luck…more like God) would have it (June 20, 2014) where I would get pulled for my 4^th and hopefully final DWI, thus making my sobriety date June 21, 2014 and the true start of my recovery adventure. I’ve told you all the gist of my story before, but this is the end to NOT being able to drive (because no, I have not driven a vehicle…including a moped since 2014). Finally, and at last, as God saw fit, I am officially behind the wheel again.

The process started on April 6, 2025 as that was when the NC DMV told me I could start the process and apply for a hearing. It took me until February 23, 2026 to finally have a license in hand, and foot on the gas pedal. If you might be worried that I am on the road again (as 4 DWIs in 7 years is kind of a big deal), even though I have been sober for almost 12 years, just to be safe, the DMV gladly gave me by very own breathalyzer for my vehicle that I get to have with me for 7 years. Yes, that’s right, SEVEN. I lost my license from April 6, 2015 (which is when I went to prison) until now, 2026. Don’t get me wrong, I get it. If I was still out there drinking and driving, I would want to make sure I had all the precautions to allow me behind the wheel. But hey, I am special and unique. I am the exception. I beat the odds, and I am still around to be able to tell you about it. How cool is that?

When the man at the DMV handed me that sheet of paper with the words “driver’s license” on it, I lost it. Completely and wholeheartedly. The tears just came and could not be stopped. I have no shame in that. If you had my story, you would be crying too. Because finally and at last, I made it to the finish line with my license, one step at a time, doing the next right thing. Can you believe it? That it can actually work like that? Sometimes the process takes FOREVER, but will always be possible as long as I keep staying sober one day at a time, growing, changing, putting one foot in front of the other, doing the next right thing, figuring out how to be a productive member of society. If I can do it, so can you.

What’s it like being able to drive again (you ask)? Magical. Don’t get me wrong, there are still crazies out there on the road, but I’m not one of them today. The last car I drove was a red Honda Civic. The car I get to drive today is a Red Honda Odyssey. How times have changed, but I guess the “red” can stay the same! I get to drive not only myself around, but my kids. My 3 beautiful children. I get to go where I want to go, do what I want to do, without having to ask for help. How absolutely amazing is that? Aww, but the “help” that I have had over the years from friends, family, and my poor husband (haha), has been nothing short of amazing as well. I could never in a million years thank those people enough for always making sure I got to where I needed to go (work, doctors appointments, grocery store, you name it). I guess that’s the cool thing that can happen to a girl like me when I keep trying to do the next right thing, keep working this program to the best of my ability and amazing things/and people happen. I thank God for it all.

I think a lot of people (especially those who have been able to drive), forget about what freedom it is to be able to do so. What a privilege and a blessing it is just to be able to get up and go. Especially as a stay-at-home mama, and a woman who works from home, the “getting up and going part” is so unbelievably necessary. One could possibly go insane being at home so much. Not saying I’m insane of course…just the right amount of sane I believe. But now, I’m no longer stuck. You need me? I can actually be there.

Something that I’ve really thought about in this last week of having my license, is how fast do we really need to go? Life in the fast lane sounds so cool and all (and trust me I used to be in the fast lane many years ago, swerving in your lane, going about 20 over the speed limit, windows down, cigarette in hand, radio blasting), but what’s really the point of getting to wherever we need to go as fast as we can? Why was I in such a hurry before? Why is our society in such a hurry? Like you have to go fast just to keep up…but why? Even just driving around now, I stay in my lane, drive the speed limit, see someone speed up to pass me, then we both just end up at the same light at the same time. So, then what’s the point? What I’ve realized is there is no speeding up or hurrying, when it comes to driving around with kids especially in this town (the traffic is insane!). So then maybe I just need to sit back, relax, smell the roses, and know that I will get there when I get there…and that’s okay. Because time takes time…just exactly as much time as it is supposed to. So today, I will control to “try” to let go of my control, because man when I do, absolutely amazing things can happen.