Last October, Carmyn Taylor-Jones began her day as she had most mornings the previous seven years: hopping in her car and opening the Lyft app. While the Pittsburgh grandmother of two was technically retired, she drove as a way to stay engaged, meet people, and earn extra money for travel (most importantly, to Steelers games). One day, she accepted a pickup a mile and a half from her house - and started a friendship that lasts to this day.

As was Taylor-Jones' wont, she struck up a conversation with her new passenger. It turned out that Diamond was returning from her job caring for elders with disabilities. As they talked, they realized they had a lot of things to discuss. Diamond had experience in the foster care system; Taylor-Jones' son was adopted. Taylor-Jones' cousin knew Diamond's grandmother. Most strikingly, Diamond's last name also happened to be Taylor (no relation). "We just got along," Taylor-Jones says. "We hit it off."

Taylor-Jones began looking out for Diamond's requests. "Every chance I'd get, I'd take her trips," she says. To increase the likelihood of matching, she told her about a new Lyft feature called Women+ Connect, which increased the chances that women and nonbinary riders will match with women and nonbinary drivers. It worked. "I would schedule around 9:30, to get in around 10, and Miss Carmyn would accept the trips," Diamond says. "I ended up getting her all the time." In fact, Taylor-Jones ended up driving Diamond most mornings for the next 100 workdays.

"We would just be laughing about stuff, having a good time," says Taylor-Jones. "Because she's so much younger, I asked her opinion about what young people like to do. She taught me a lot about TikTok."

"I had to!" Diamond laughs. "Who else was gonna teach her?"

Taylor-Jones was also struck by Diamond's work ethic, despite her youth: "She could empathize, and she never missed a day." (Diamond remembers things slightly differently: "If I wasn't out on time, she would call me. I'd be like, 'OK, Mom. I'm going to work, Mom!' ") When Diamond left her lunch at home, Taylor-Jones made a special delivery to her office - spaghetti one day, chili the next. "It was bomb," Diamond remembers. For her birthday, Taylor-Jones greeted Diamond with a box of donuts. "I didn't have to. I just wanted to," Taylor-Jones says. "I got to the point where I cared about her like she was a relative."

Although Diamond no longer commutes using Lyft, she and "Miss Carmyn" have remained in touch. Diamond is now Facebook friends with Taylor-Jones' daughter. She's invited to family gatherings. And Taylor-Jones is more than happy to have gained another daughter: "It's just so crazy how things work out in life, you know?"