Back Seat Rider

The first car I remember belonged to my parents. It was a black Ford Fairlane.  Somewhere there is a picture of me standing by the front door of that car in a beautiful blue dress with a white Peter Pan collar ready to embark on my first day of Kindergarten.  I happen to know the dress is blue even though isn't evident in the black and white photo. 

It was a good ol' car complete with bench seating in the front and a little hump on the floor in the middle of the back.  Seat belts and car seats were not the norm back then so I spent a good amount of time standing on that hump trying to see what was going on in the front seat and further on down the road.

Back then I never paid much attention to the roads we were on.  I had no need to know how to get anywhere, as I could always be sure that there was someone to take me wherever it was that I had to be. Nonetheless, I learned a few landmarks along the way that helped me figure out where we were going.  I remember the tree-lined neighborhood streets that led to Dr. Cooper's big yellow house and office.  I always felt a little nervous as we got closer to that destination, wondering if the visit that was about to take place meant it was time for another shot. 

And then there was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.  The 4-mile span crosses the Chesapeake Bay and has linked the Eastern shore of Maryland to its western neighbor since 1952.  I knew if we were heading over the bridge I was going to see my granny- one of my very favorite people to this day. 

 According to my mother a trip over the bridge also meant I was probably going to be throwing up in the back seat.