If you are reading this at 7 a.m. this morning you have approximately seven hours left to drive the roads of Natchez without fear. By 2:30 my oldest will have her driver’s permit and another teenager will get behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Today is Holly’s 15th birthday and that permit is of utmost importance to her. She sees it as the potential for freedom. My husband and I see it as another headache and cause for worry along this road called parenthood.

While Holly is currently enrolled in a driver’s education class and seems to be doing well, there is still that little part in a parents brain that screams &uot;warning, warning, danger ahead.&uot; I guess you are never prepared for a teen driver. Of course, as she has pointed out on several occasions, we adults aren’t exactly perfect out on the roadways.

At least there is driver’s education available here in Natchez. When I turned 16 my family lived in a little town that had one red light and one blinking light in it. My mother was a justice court judge at the time. I went to work with her one morning and she asked a highway patrolman to give me my test.

He and I drove around the block and that was it. I did have to stop at a four-way stop sign. But absolutely no parallel parking. To this day I have to make the block in downtown Natchez until I find a parking spot I can pull into.

Actually, Holly already backs up my Suburban better than I do, so I know she will be just fine. It’s just that she has grown up so fast and she is a lot more prepared to be a 15-year old than David and I are to have a 15-year old.

Happy birthday Holly, I hope your day is wonderful!

— A reader recently called me and requested a recipe for mayhaw jelly. While I imagine it is very similar to the plum jelly my grandmother used to make I must confess it is been a very long time since I was involved in the jelly-making process. If you have a recipe for mayhaw jelly please send it in, you might even manage to get a jar of the finished product.

–This weekend the youth group at Jefferson St. United Methodist Church will present their annual dinner theater. This year’s production of &uot;Heaven Can Wait&uot; promises to be a hit. See page 2C for photo. Tickets are available at the church or from any youth group member.

— Natchez Downtown Development Association and the Pilgrimage Garden Club beautification committee have teamed up for Art in the Park this year. Downtown Memorial Park will be the site of the event on Saturday, May 13. Tickets will be $3 for adults and $2 for children and senior citizens. All proceeds from Art in Park go to the beautification of Memorial Park.

— Cathedral school will be holding its annual fundraiser, Crawfish Countdown on Saturday, May 13. Countdown tickets are $100 for two. This includes all the crawfish you can eat, beverages and a chance at the grand prize of $5,000. For information about tickets call the school at 442-2531 or me here at The Democrat at 442-9101, ext. 249. Individual tickets are also available.

— In last Wednesday’s style section I ran some recipes that were sent in by a reader. Her last name was misspelled. The recipes should have been credited to Gloria McMorris.

Also, in the recipe for coconut cake in last Wednesday’s food article the amount of baking powder reads as 2/12 teaspoons. This should have said 2 1/2.

I apologize for the error.

Christina Hall is the Lifestyle Editor for The Democrat. She can be reached at 445-3549 or by e-mail at christina.hall@natchezdemocrat.com