We Went, 3 Women

We went to the graves.

She agreed to it.  

I agreed to deliver her daughter.  

NO!  No, no, no, she wasn't pregnant.  And, NO!  Not to the cemetery!  We delivered her daughter to her part-time job, then we went to the graves.  

My passenger was kind enough to go along with me to check the condition of the floral arrangement on dear hubby's grave.  Me recently widowed, her recently divorced - -  a tenuous thread for our acquaintance.

Then she got animated.

She recognized the intersecting road ahead, "Oh, oh, can we turn here?  I have a  special friend in the next city, you'll like her, she's a good friend and I check on her on Mondays.  You really will like her, she's something special.  You want to eat at Michaelangelo's, it's 10 dollar night?"  

Wow, okay, quick subject change and such exuberance.

Then she gets on her cellphone, calls the friend, who now only has 5 minutes to get ready before we arrive, and she says, "We're on the road, we're near you, and can be there, in 5 minutes," her eyes dart to me for confirmation, "I have a friend with me, well actually she's driving, and we'll all go to Michaelangelo's.  It's 10 dollar Monday.  That'll be alright, won't it?  You'll go with us, all right?"  

A few more excited sentences and she hangs up the phone.

"I thought we were just going to check on your friend ..."  and I let the sentence hang.

"You were hesitating about going out to eat.  But with her going along I thought you might, too."

"Sneaky!"

Her new friend was short, skinny, spry as a 50 year old, and for the cold weather donned top after top, one was floral mauve, then a sweater, a vest, a black thick furry sleeveless jacket, and finally a round, brimmed, black felt hat.  I wondered why she didn't just put on a coat.  White and pink floral canvas shoes completed her ensemble.

She had a front room stuffed full of yard sale items, organized, and tagged.  She scuttled around looking for me some donating mission brochures, scuttled some more explaining what I was seeing all the while  telling of her efforts to donate to this and that organization, and how she helped some homeless man along the river downtown.

At Michaelanglo's Italian pasta restarurant the discussion touched on my passenger's recent divorce.  The new friend thought it expedient; sanctioning the finalized date.

She sympathized with my own new widowhood.

I asked her about her marital status. This woman, white haired with old woman thin-skinned fingers, having taken a scoop of her soup, put up 4 fingers, as she bent forward and low over her bowl, and swallowed.  "I've been married 4 times.  One we didn't consummate so we just got it annulled!" 

Stunned.  I was stunned!  I'd never heard of such a thing except in books!

Just as she had scuttling movements, she changes subjects quickly, partly because her hearing is bad.  Conversing is a bit disjointed cuz she doesn't get pauses in conversations.   

"My son called me 2 times this week, he ran out of booze.  He's a nice guy." 

She chewed a bite of bread stick, "When he's not drinking."

Mentally I'm doing the math - - this "son" has to be in his 70's!

What's the rest of the story?

In 10 days she's having a birthday.  She'll be 93!