I had a woman last week in my cab, going from the Courthouse downtown to a hotel on the east side, roughly a $20 ride. I picked up this woman who was roughly 65-70 years old. She wore a wig, hobbled slowly with a cane, and wanted to use the front seat. When she got in, I was overpowered by the scent of dog.  Considering where I picked her up, I thought it would be a completely different kind of ride.

She tells me she got divorced today! I was a little surprised, so she explained that she’d been married 28 years and her husband left her last year to run around with “teenage cheerleaders at the bars”. She went on to say that during the year of separation, she was still receiving all his mail, the house he left her in was in his name, and he neglected to pay for it. In February she got a knock on the door by some police and was told she needed to leave the house within 10 minutes. She had been foreclosed on without any warning, and had to now live in a hotel for $80 a day with her dog and cat. I asked how old her husband was, and she said 54… which led me to believe she was about the same age… but she looked nearly 20 years older. Her husband “still made a bunch of money”, and the judge made him pay a LARGE alimony.

As she got out of the car, I noticed her jacket had dog shit on it. I could only imagine someone who considered themselves still alive, active, and healthy having this woman to come home to every night. Someone who’d given up on life and the care of their self. I think she was capable of much more than she was doing. She might have just been depressed but at the same time I wouldn’t want to continue my life with someone who’d resigned themselves to wait for death. He still should have kept making her house payments, though.

Yesterday I had an old couple in my cab. Their car had broken down and I was there to take them home as the tow truck was taking their car to some auto shop. The woman had gotten into the car and started a conversation with me as the man was dealing with the tow truck driver.  She seemed pretty bright for her dilapidated body.  He looked in better shape, but around the same age… she had a hump back and gnarled hands.  I asked if that man was her husband and she said yes, they were married in 1953. So if they were married 55 years ago, they were probably sitting around 75. The woman had a very sunny disposition, but the man seemed incredibly put out by having to help her with her seat belt and holding a conversation with her. When we pulled up to their GIGANTIC house in a secret neighborhood I’d never been to, he had me park at the top of the driveway near the mailbox.  Then he refused to help his wife walk down the slope to their house after tipping me $1.75.

This doesn’t give me hope for old age.