My sympathies too, Bill. Good on you
for taking on this difficult thing. More people should do it, as we well know in Florida there are way too many older drivers who should give it up sooner than they do.
I had to be the tough guy with my mother, on the driver's license issue. My mother lived up in Canada and I would go visit every few months. My siblings didn't know about her problems, since they lived nearby and never drove anywhere with her. I started making it a point to have her drive me to the grocery store, same one she'd been shopping at for years and years. She never got lost, but her eyesight was failing badly, and you know, she just didn't realize how much she wasn't seeing (understandable, when you think about it). Just like when your hearing is failing and you don't miss what you don't hear.
We were driving to the store on my 'test run' one day and she passed very close to some people on bicycles, parents and a little girl. I said to Mum, "Gee, you sure passed close to those people in the bikes" and when she said "What bikes . . " I knew it was time. When we got home and sat down for tea, I said "Mum, you aren't really seeing well enough to drive" of course she scoffed at me, but when I said "How would you feel if you had hit that little girl on the bike?" she really started thinking about it.
Luckily, her eye doctor was also a family friend who I had known well for many years. Her eye exam with him was due, so I made an appointment, and also called him before we came to his office. I said "It's time Mum stopped driving, can you help me with this?" and explained the incident. Bless him, he wrote the letter and gently broke the news to Mum himself.
I think this is the first plan of attack to try - get her doctor on board and ask him to tell her to stop. It's much easier for your parents to accept a thing like that from a doctor (who is much more of an 'authority figure' to them than their child is).
Looking forward to my new Caladiums, as well. The ones I planted in the fall were fabulous, and lasted through Christmas.
