29. Celebrating Life

What ride should I share with you tonight?

There was the large man I picked up from his job, that he got off early from, who looked like he could have been my younger brother, and who told me he was going home to take a hot bath, he then described in detail to me with bubbles, candles, and a glass of wine, almost as if he were inviting me to come along with him . Or maybe I read into it too much.

Then there was the young lady and her boyfriend, who I picked up from the movie theater after watching “The Nun 2”. She was going on about how the movie had scared the bejesus out of her, so when we pulled up to her apartment complex, I decided not to tell her about the homeless woman who was standing out by the front entrance, wearing a tattered black dress and looking a little frightening.

No, I think I will share the story of the woman. I picked up late in the evening who came into my car, crying. Two family members had helped her into the car because she had been crying so much and also gave her a bunch of Tupperwared food. One of them asked me to make sure she got home ok.

As we drove away, she apologized for her crying and said it had been a very sad day for her. She told me that her mother had died that day around 3 AM. The family had gathered together to have dinner and mourn her.

She then told me that her mother was 93 and had eight children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her father had passed years ago but they had been married for over sixty-five years and have lived here for their entire lives.

Her mother had raised the kids while her father worked, and they had paid for them all to go to college because they wanted them to have a good education and a strong foundation to start their own families on.

She said her mother had never done anything significant but that she raised a family. I told her that sounded pretty significant to me.

The family had all gotten together tonight to mourn and, as is usually the case with her family, it turned into a potluck party, which is why she had all the food. I told her that it seemed more like a celebration of her mother’s life than a mourning. She laughed and said that is exactly what it was.

I dropped her off and helped her take all the food inside her condo.

When I got back into my car, I thought of my mom and how happy I was to have gotten to see her last week.