How Mom taught me to drive stick shift.

I just started thinking about my first car I bought. It was summer of 1983 and JP knew this couple who were selling their 1972 Toyota Corolla. It was in working condition but it had some rust, which I soon Rustoleum it same color as my hair.
I think I paid 300 bucks for it.
The couple lived on Peckham Rd and after I bought the car, they called me to baby-sit. Miriam was the wife's name and can't remember the husband's name. They were friends of JP and had a nice house and beautiful children. I want to call the boy Ethan but I am not sure of the little girl's name. I went to Roger Williams Park for the first time that summer. I thought Rhode Island was so far away back then. Little did I know I would end up working 5+ years in Providence commuting everyday there.
That car had so many memories for me. I didn't know how to drive a stick shift when I bought it so Mom took me to Sacred Heart Cemetery to learn. I had to try to drive up the hill where Dad is buried and not make it roll back. It kept rolling back. When she finally thought I was ready, she let me drive it home for the first time. Instead of taking Mt. Pleasant the whole way, she told me to go up to Hathaway Road. The light was red in front of Shawmut Diner and I was turning left. It is on a hill. I tried to let the clutch out slow and give it gas, but every time it would buck and stall. She kept her cool while I was panicking because the light went back to red and everyone behind me was mad. Light turned green and same thing….buck-stall/buck-stall and back to red light. Now people behind me were swerving around me, give me the finger etc..blowing their horns and I was crying at this point. Mom, who never loses her cool, tries to calm me down but then I get so mad that when the light turned green….I made it through.
I don’t know how the older kids were taught to drive, but cemeteries make sense.
I know Mom liked my Corolla because she didn't have to bring me back and forth to band anymore. Mrs. Lyons must of loved it because Bridget and I could carpool to NBHS. And I know Todd loved that car (at least once).