The Dead Driver
Grief is different for everyone. One cannot measure or predict how long grieving will last.
The time period between November 1999 and May 2002 were defining years in my life as I healed deep trauma on a personal level.
My next screenplay, The Dead Driver, was inspired by the death of Inis Opal Thompson, my Nana; she was the mom of an only-child Joan Bethelene Carter, my Mom. Nana died November 2, 1999. That day, and the events leading up to her death are forever etched in my memory.
My Nana was the only daughter of twelve kids. She was born, raised and worked on the Thompson Farm in Baxter, Tennessee feeding, washing clothes, and helping her parents and eleven brothers. When my Nana left her first husband and moved to Detroit, Michigan she left the farm life and began her career at Chrysler Corporation. She worked there until retirement.
Growing up, my Nana and I were very close. She made everything special. When she died, it was the most painful experience I had ever lived through. Worse than my time dancing in Paris and the trauma I survived there. My heart literally cracked open and fell to the bottom of the earth. The guilt I suffered at having left home at 17-years-old to pursue my dreams crushed me. I should’ve stayed home in Detroit; I should’ve never left my family; I didn’t spend enough time with her…the questions and stories made my life unbearable.
During this period in 1999, professionally I was peaking in my dance career. I made great money, shared my own dressing room, had earned the respect of my peers, was finishing up my undergraduate degree at UNLV, and purchased my very own house in Las Vegas.
When she died, I flew home to Detroit to be with my mom and family. Nana died in the care of hospice at her home on Jackson Street. We were by her side as she took her last breath. It is extraordinary to be in the presence of a loved one as they journey forward to the other side. Her passing was surreal, and the events after her death profound. I literally could not stop crying for weeks.
In the weeks, months, years following her death, I began my own spiritual journey. I worked with a spiritual guide who performed reiki, chakra, and other forms of light/color healing. I wrote in my journal every day. Nana was also very spiritual. She dreamt of the deceased. The deceased would visit her home on occasion. She saw colors and moving light, and she loved the full moon.
I have wanted to write The Dead Driver since the day she died. This next short film is for my Nana and for anyone who has lost loved ones. I find comfort in knowing that once we leave our bodies, we forever stay with the souls we met on earth. My Nana is always with me.
