For weekday mornings, she and I developed our routine. I took the 8:13 train from Tuckahoe, positioning myself to where the first door of the third car would open. (Commuters learn how to do this.) Since during rush hour my stop was only the second one for the train, the car was not crowded and I sat at the window in the third row on the right side of the train’s center, putting my now-treasured Columbia backpack on the empty middle seat. The woman who took the aisle seat each day, who we learned was Jane Elliot, smiled and said “good morning” and I responded in kind.