plus theres the possibility that ruth will be reminded of the horrible state of helens house the result partly of her blindness and partly of her obsession with the drivers license , which has driven every other thought out of her head except for the unproductive one of how old and alone she is ( helens husband , milton , sat down for a nap in his lawnchair one day after mowing the lawn 10 years ago , and never woke up ) and ruth will feel that she has to drop in to chat for a minute and at least change the cat box , even though this is a futile task , because the box has been topped off with turds so many times by now that the cat never even thinks of it any more , just goes behind the furniture or down in the basement , so that a hideous jungle odor pervades the house .