The Happy Ride

Throughout an individual’s life many trials and tribulations come to interfere with one’s happiness and it is a stroke of luck to find relief from such obstacles in the least expected settings, as a friendship with a stranger may appear. In the short story “The Taxi Ride” by Patricia Elam Ruff there’s a clear example of this. Helen’s life was marked by many inconveniences. She not only was over her seventies, with all that being elder implies, but she had to face several extra difficulties as well. She suffered from physical ailments as well as psychological pains due to her husband’s health condition and the feeling of loneliness that came with it. Luckily, Helen Jones’ good fortune led her to the establishment of a friendship with Alonzo Murphy, a kind and unselfish taxi driver, which helped her enjoy a respite from her dreary reality.

Helen had many worries, some of them acquired and some of them of her own. Amongst these difficulties, the one obstacle that appeared to be her �incubus’ was her husband’s health since it was constantly on her mind and brought about secondary problems to her. Helen had been married to Jimmy Jones for as long as she could remember. She always loved him for he was a very good companion to her. They shared great conversations and beautiful dreams as well. In the latter days although, Jimmy Jones was very different from the man she had decided to get married to and Helen’s life was very much afflicted by Jimmy’s condition. For instance, Jimmy’s sugar diabetes had caused him to deteriorate in many senses, and Helen had to accompany him to his dialysis sessions in the hospital three times a week. This fact also meant for Helen to go back home the same amount of times using the public transportation. As a result, Helen felt her arthritis’ pains activate since she had to wait for the bus in a really cold weather, and most of the times she could not sit down once on the bus because no one would be educated enough so as to kindly give her a seat. Moreover, Jimmy was slowly reaching blindness, which made him more dependent on Helen who had to read to him instead of just resting while she could. Furthermore, Helen was forced to help him whenever he had to go to bed or use the restroom due to the fact that he could no longer walk without help and was obliged to use a wheelchair. Helen even had to make the effort to bathe him without any help, which was an effort of considerable physical requirements in view of her age. Though it may seem minor in comparison to all the other troubles Helen had, even Jimmy’s way of carrying a conversation with her had decayed, and Helen took severe pain in this particular subject since this made her feel she had no one to talk to. Accordingly to Jimmy’s ailments, Helen suffered a great deal in silence, since all she could do was to be there for him. She made herself useful by being at his constant beck and call, even if Jimmy would never treat her as a servant. In addition to Jimmy’s health, Helen was troubled by her social life, or by the lack of it, since she hardly ever had the joy of a good companion and felt extremely lonesome. Her days were all the same: “one was twin to the next.” (page 393 line 1). There was no excitement whatsoever in her routine, only sadness and worries. She would wake up in a house she would clean without any help, everyday she would do the same chores in the exact same order, and to Helen, this could only add to her distress. Then, as it has been said before, three times a week she would take Jimmy to the hospital so he had his dialysis sessions and go back home by bus afterwards. Moreover, she had almost no diversions from her misery and pain due to the fact that she did not enjoy watching television and all she did every once in a while was read a book. She felt lonely, restrained and unhappy about not having anyone to talk to. When she did have someone to talk to, it was her children whom nonchalantly tried to tell her what she should and what she should not do, since none of them had noticed the solitary existence their mother was going through. It was a growing pain for Helen to be so lonesome, such solitary life is of no profit to anyone, and it doubtlessly was detrimental to Helen’s mental health. It constantly made Helen feel as if she was unfortunate, it first started as something she could handle, but gradually became an unbearable feeling inside her chest. In conclusion, it is evident that Jimmy’s health certainly