BUS STORY # 390 (Cutting The Apron Strings)

Old lady on the bus, © All Rights Reserved, a photo by Elvis Nieves Photography on Flickr.

The older woman guides her walker to the first seat facing forward, then maneuvers to sit in the window seat.

But before she can sit down, the young girl behind her lunges forward and grabs her.

“Not there!” she says, pointing to the seat.

I’ve already pegged them as grandmother and granddaughter.

Grandmother thanks her granddaughter profusely as she helps the old woman settle in the aisle seat. Granddaughter takes the bench seat in front of her and arranges the walker so it fits snugly in the space between them.

The walker looks like a combination stroller, with a closed, blue canvas compartment where a basket would be. It looks full.

Once they are settled, the granddaughter, who may or may not be in high school, pulls a cellphone out of her purse. She holds it in front of her grandmother, then proceeds to give her instructions on how to make a call.

She makes her practice until she is satisfied her grandmother has mastered the process.

A little later, the granddaughter opens the blue canvas on top of the stroller and pulls out a backpack. After strapping it on, she hands her grandmother the cell, tells her she loves her and not to lose the phone.

She gets off at her stop, leaving her grandmother to ride on by herself.

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The photo at the top of this story is titled “Old lady on the bus,” © All Rights Reserved, and is posted with the permission of Elvis Nieves. You can see all Elvis Nieves’s photos on Flickr here.