[Magdalen] Magdalen] gas prices?

[Don Boyd]

When I came to believe that my mom's driving made her a danger "to self 
and/or others," I called her ophthalmologist and told him what I'd seen.  He 
said, get her in here and I'll do the rest.  So he had his assistant call 
her to schedule a visit (her memory was by then far enough gone that she 
didn't notice that the between-visits interval was shorter than usual), and 
as usual she drove herself to the appointment.  Examination finished, the 
doc told Mom, "Mrs Boyd, I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to give me your 
car keys.  If, knowing what I know now about your eyesight,  I let you leave 
here able to drive, I could be sued into bankruptcy when you hit 
somebody...and you will hit somebody--maybe not on your way home today, but 
soon.  And you have to promise me that you will never, ever, drive again."

She said, "Don put you up to this, didn't he?"  And he said, "Well, he did 
tell me he was worried about your driving," and she said (meekly), "I knew 
this day was coming, I just didn't know it would be today," and handed him 
the keys.  The doc's assistant having called me when she scheduled Mom's 
appointment, I was waiting in the parking lot (my wife had dropped me off), 
and the doc walked Mom out to her car and handed me the keys.  He told her, 
"Mrs. Boyd, I know this is upsetting, but I want you to stay alive as long 
as you can and this is the most important thing I can do today to help with 
that.  Now, when you get home, give Don any spare keys you have, and he'll 
take the car to his place so you won't be tempted."  Mom (fighting back 
tears), "Yes, I'll do that.  Old age is not for sissies."  And the nearest 
thing to a complaint I heard from her after that was a comment on one of the 
volunteer drivers who took her to medical appointments after that:  "She's a 
worse driver than I was when Dr Thorne took my keys away from me."

Don in Austin