“Well,” she said, as she held her hand to side of her face while glancing at the covered containers. “I do like to cook and I just thought.” He voice trailed off.

“Evelyn” I said as I smiled and turned to look at her. “I do appreciate what you’re doing, but it’s really not necessary. I have plenty of food here and I’ll manage ok while Diana’s gone. You don’t need to cook for me.”

I gently took her arm and helped her to the door and across the street to her house. As she walked through her front door I reminded her. “Now Evelyn, please call me first before you come over again, okay?”

She turned and sheepishly nodded her head.

When I got back to the house I opened up the containers. There before me was fried chicken, coleslaw, biscuits, and a generous piece of apple pie. The aroma hit me and my stomach growled as I once more dug into the plentiful feast, putting a large portion into the fridge with the other food from before.

The next day I wasn’t going to give Evelyn a chance. I would beat her to the punch. At 11:30 I walked across the street and knocked on the door. Evelyn answered. “Oh hello, she said looking a bit startled. “I was just on my way over with a little something for you.” She glanced over at the covered plastic containers on her kitchen table and gave me a big smile. “But since you’re here I guess you can take them over yourself.”

A few days later Diana called. “What are you doing about meals?” She asked. “What are you eating?”

“Oh, I’m getting by.” I replied.

“You’re not going to the store and buying TV dinners are you? You need to be eating better than that.”

As I held the phone to my ear, I glanced over at the teetering stack of empty plastic containers on the kitchen counter. They needed to be washed and taken back across the street for another go around.

I cleared my throat and spoke into the phone. “I’m getting by.” I said.