Luther, Nora and Cars

Luther and Nora Barrett had a strange relationship with respect to automobiles. Nora never learned to drive. Maybe it was the dreaded clutch, but folklore has it that Luther did not want her to have that much freedom. He was somewhat of a martinet. So, all of the driving done in the Barrett family was done by Luther. No big deal, unless you consider that he was nearly blind!

Let me relate the dialog in the front seat that I heard as I rode with them in the back seat. Nora: Stop sign coming up. Nora: OK, stop now. Nora: All clear, you can go now. Nora: Right turn in a little bit. Nora: Ok, turn right here. And so on….

My folks were incredulous when they heard this and I was not allowed to ride with them any more. That was ok by me because it was scary to ride with them. Another upshot of this situation is that Edith and Helen and Donald and Gordon decided that they needed to take Luther’s car away from him and stop him from driving. I happened to overhear this conversation. The two women were terrified of confronting their irascible father and the men were none too excited by the prospect.