It was tough. For all of us.

Everyone knew – including dad – that the day had finally come for the family to ask him to surrender his car keys. 

His driving had become more and more erratic over the past months. He drove too fast. He missed stop signs now and then. Smooth, contactless lane changing was not his strong suit… to put it mildly. 

But the day when he backed over one of his neighbors at the mobile home park was the day we could no longer turn a blind eye. [The man suffered a broken pelvis and some abrasions but was otherwise OK.] 

As the oldest of the five siblings, it was probably my job to hold out my hand and ask for the keys. But since I lived 2500 miles away from him, that unpleasant task fell to one of the other sibs. 

And if you asked any of us, we would tell you it was that exact moment when we noticed dad’s health begin to deteriorate. He stopped going to church. He stopped singing with the choral group at the senior center. He and my stepmom no longer took little sightseeing jaunts around town. I never asked him, but I am certain he began to feel trapped… hemmed in… isolated. 

His diabetes flared up. His kidneys started to malfunction. He lost his balance and fell a couple of times. And then, not much more than a year later, he died. 

That experience is probably the main reason I began driving for SAINT shortly after we moved to Colorado. SAINT stands for “Senior Alternatives In Transportation.” It is a 100% volunteer service here in Fort Collins that gives rides to seniors… or anyone who is unable to drive for any reason.

Plus, it gives me the opportunity to regularly remind Joan, “I know that was a stupid stunt I pulled yesterday, but remember honey… I’m a SAINT!”

She doesn’t buy it, by the way.

All you, as the client, need to do is to call the main SAINT office number. You say, “Hey! I need a ride to the doctor (or grocery store, or beautician, or gym) next Tuesday,” and VIOLA! I roll up to your front door at the appointed hour to pick you up. You know it is me because of the big ol’ blue and white SAINT magnet on my car.

All of this at no charge to you. 

The perk for me is that I get to hang out and chat with some amazing people. There is Jason*, the man with Downs Syndrome who LOVES to talk Georgia Bulldogs football. There is Sylvia* who lives on her own and hops unassisted in and out of my car and who stunned me last week when she told me she is 101 years old! There is Maureen* who I drive to the beauty parlor to have the few remaining whispy red strands of her hair styled. There is Francine* with her tales of her out-of-control grandson, and Dave* who gets a ride to Friday morning mass every week, and Lydia, another Down Syndrome woman, who always greets me with, “’Sup!”when she gets into the car. 

And even if they have told me 15 times already, each one is quick to tell me again how meaningful it is to have their mobility restored through SAINT. 

Proving once again how fundamental CONNECTION is to our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. 

You and I are made for each other. We were made in God’s image and there is no one more RELATIONALthan God. Heck, that’s why you and I are HERE in the first place! God (being God and all) certainly could have floated around by himself in the nothingness forever! But God wanted RELATIONSHIP! With US, if you can imagine that! God also wanted US to experience relationship with ONE ANOTHER!

So, God created tiny flesh-and-blood replicas of God, breathed some Spirit into our nostrils, and then planted us squarely in the middle of the most beautiful Garden in the universe. 

Of course, it didn’t take long for the first humans to misbehave and screw up that plan completely. But did that discourage God? Did it make God throw in the towel and give up on us? Did it cause God to just wipe the slate clean and start all over? 

Well, ALMOST. 

But don’t take my word for it! You can find this whole story right there in the beginning chapters of the book of Genesis in the Bible. 

From time to time, I wonder what might have happened if my dad had had SAINT available to him. I wonder if he would have used it, or if he would have been too proud to accept the help.

It’s hard to say. But at least I know isolated seniors in Fort Collins have a CHOICE! And many are choosing to get out and CONNECT and THRIVE.

Abundant blessings;

• Not their real names