Was She an Angel?

I was walking out of the Supreme Court House in our little corner of the world, for the sixth or seventh time in the past couple of months. My estranged husband stopped sending money, and I have been trying to recoup it through the courts. I was thinking about how hard this whole divorce procedure was, and how I hoped we wouldn’t lose our home over it. I was also glad I got a parking spot right in front of the walkway to the court house. There are no parking lots, just roadside parking, and sometimes you have to drive around a bit. It was a beautiful, warm, spring day and as I passed a park bench, I noticed an old woman with dark sunglasses. She seemed to be in distress. I hesitated in my mind for a second, telling myself to leave well enough alone, and keep walking. I couldn’t do that, so I asked her if she was okay? She replied, “I don’t think I can make it.” “Why,” I asked. “What’s the matter?”

She told me she had to park all the way at the end of the block, and she didn’t think she could walk that far. She said she was having trouble breathing. I said, “If you can’t breathe, how are you going to drive?” She explained that she was alright when she was sitting, and only lost her breathe while walking. I looked twenty feet away, and saw my SUV. Could she get up in it? I told her my car was parked right here, and I would drive her to her car. She thanked me profusely. I showed her where the strap was, and in one motion, she grabbed it, put her foot on the runner, and pulled herself into the seat. I said, “No one has ever gotten into this vehicle as smoothly, including myself!”

I drove about ten car lengths, and we were at her car. She started to talk, so I put my flashers on, and she began telling me that she lived with her daughter, but her daughter was mean. Very mean. She just got married, and her and her husband wanted their privacy, and were kicking her out of their home. She was going into a retirement home. Then, she began to cry. I patted her back, and tried to comfort her. I told her she’d be fine, she’d make new friends, have activities to do, and maybe even find a boyfriend in there! She laughed at that. I told her she was old enough to know that she was responsible for her own happiness, so she had to make the best of it. She agreed, and told me she was eighty one.

She thanked me several times, and before she got out of my car, she looked right into my eyes, even though I couldn’t see them, I could feel them, and asked me, “What is your name?” I said, “My name is Susan.” I asked for hers. She said, “My name is Mary.”