July 25th 2013, 7:25am; I wake up. Today will change my life. Today will be the difference between freedom and being home bound. Today is a day when I am challenged once again against my brother. To beat his score on his test. He missed four on the test. I had to miss less than that. I take myself, my dad and my car to Petaluma for a 9:30am test time. I chose this time for many reasons. Miss the morning rush. Miss the lunch rush. Miss the after work rush. Don't have to perform too early. I would have time to be well rested--alert but not so late that I would sleep in too much and feel groggy. I have this down to a science; I spent hours planning and prepping. I went on four graded practice runs with my driving instructor. I spent time, effort and most importantly, I spent money on this.

I had to pass. I get in the car. My Instructor is named Kevin. Kevin is a middle aged white guy who has two tattoos on his forearms. Kevin is wearing jeans and a Yosemite National Park T-shirt tucked into his jeans. Kevin was wearing a brown leather watch, black leather belt, a sliver timex watch, a gold wedding ring and white New Balance running shoes.This is not good. I get the impression that he drives a 2001 Toyota Camry and has two kids, the daughter at college somewhere he could not afford, which means she's smart. Somewhere like UC Davis studying chemistry or biology. He has a son who is a senior in high school who shows interest in the arts. He is going somewhere like the Sorbonne. Kevin and I never speak about these topics. He tells me where to go. What to do. The Test commences. As the test proceeds, Kevin, for some reason, ticks my grading sheet. The panic begins to set in. We pull back into the DMV parking lot. At this point I accept my failure and mentally prepare for him to tell me I hadn't gotten a single thing right. As I park I see my dad waiting outside with his book. He looks as if he has been nervous for me. But trying to not show it. Kevin says, "Let’s add it up shall we?" I respond, "please do," which, I realize, is probably not the best answer.

But,then Kevin says something magical. "You got a 100%."

!!!! My life was made. My reaction with Kevin is controlled. I shake his hand and say thank you. He tells me where to go to get my paper license. And that the real deal will be in my mailbox in 10 days.

I hug my dad and say thank you.

I drive home.

My dad goes to work.

Where do I go?

To Starbucks.

And I drive myself.