Over the weekend when Diane and I entered his room just off downtown Los Angeles, his face brightened.
He smiled with a gallon of energy and authenticity.
“You guys are a sight for sore eyes,” he said, his most complex formulation since his stroke nearly two months ago.
At appropriately spaced intervals, he repeated his greeting twice more.
Under severe pressure for weeks, Mr. Ruben finally appeared relaxed this time.
He chatted spiritedly with Diane, a nurse practitioner who brought an expert’s eye to his present state.
Mr. Ruben, 72, one of Culver City’s most recognizable personalities via his lifelong love of busses and trains, has been traveling in and out of nursing facilities more than he expected lately.
After suffering seizures a week ago, he was moved from Country Villa Mar Vista, his home for a month, to Marina del Rey Hospital, across town to Los Angeles Community Hospital, East L.A., and on Friday was transferred to a University Park nursing stop in the shadow of the USC campus.
On Thursday afternoon when Diane and I were returning from our ALS clinic at Kaiser Sunset, Mr. Ruben’s most recent doctor called.
He recommended hospice.
