Looking Back: People Met in a Year

This entry was about Diane, a woman who road the bus the same route I did at four in the morning.  Just a reminder that you’ll never know who you will meet where ever you are. 

Diane on the Bus

 For the last couple weeks, I’ve been staying at my friend Dina’s house while I finish up my last month at Starbucks.  Since then, I’ve become mesmerized by this woman that rides the bus with me at about 6:30am.  She gets on the bus, says the brightest hello to the driver and continues this until she finds herself comfortable in a seat where she then continues to address the person next to her like they were childhood friends.  I can talk to pretty much everyone, and make them feel at ease when I do, but the technique that this woman displays is magnificent.  Yesterday, I finally said hello.

I learned that her name is Diane and that she is a crossing guard for a school in Westwood.  In addition to that she is going to school at night so she can become a CNA in order to make a little bit of money while the schools are closed for the summer.  She laughed when she told me because it isn’t so much that she needs the money, but just wants to have something to do.  Diane is 60 years old and she insists that in order to know she is still alive, she just wants to keep moving.  She feels that the only thing that you can do in life is keep moving forward and remember that if you’re not fighting things, then its time for a reality check.  If you’re not fighting, then you’re not challenging yourself and you’re not finding the spice of life.  You are then just living the motions of each day until you crawl into a hole.   Diane made my day that morning, and I imagine that she makes it for majority of the people who ride the bus with her…. Even if they think “Why is she always so happy?”