Rebel Yell

"I never realized how pretty it is out here," Jake said as he put down his phone and drove today for the first time. Less than two months before he turns 15 and gets his permit.

Out here is Money Sunk Road in Eden, Mississippi, close to the Yazoo River and the catfish farm I grew up on. The long stretch of blacktop surrounded by flat Delta land is where dad taught my brother and me to drive.

Jake dodged potholes and drove past tumbled down hoses, empty silos, rows of soybeans pushing up through the mud and aerators stirring oxygen back into catfish ponds. Confidence came too quickly and he requested his favorite songs, starting with "Atlantic City" by Bruce Springsteen.

"Well now everything dies baby that's a fact

But maybe everything that dies someday comes back.”

A turn and the memories start coming back. The field where Jake was attacked by ants during a picnic. The pond where he got too close, fell in, and his grandaddy pulled him out.

The request for "Rebel Yell" surprised me. I had forgotten how fast I used to drive those roads thirty years ago in my hand-me-down 1972 Lincoln Continental listening to Billy Idol sing "I walked the world with you, babe. A thousand miles with you. I dried your tears of pain, babe. A million times for you." You can't help but drive faster when he yells, "More, more, more."

"Mom. This is a long stretch of road. Can I see how fast I can go?"

"No. The speed limit is 25. Always drive the speed limit."

"Haven't you ever wanted to listen to ‘Rebel Yell’ and drive as fast as you can?"

"No. I always obeyed the speed limit and you will always obey the speed limit."

"I want to rent a Ferrari in Arizona and drive as fast as I can. I just added that to my bucket list."

"This lesson is over and so is your hope of ever driving.“

Back in the passenger seat, Jake said, "Today I realized driving means making my own decisions. I can't wait to drive."

I once felt the same way learning how to drive on these roads and dreaming of freedom and doing what I want to do. I know how that turned out. Jake had his first and last driving lesson today on Money Sunk Road.

But if he does drive fast, he needs to turn up Motley Crue's “Kickstart My Heart.”