Glad to Have You; No Trouble at All.

How many trips up the hill in the car, food steaming on the seat beside me? I've been at it for almost five years; we three have aged.

This morning they invited me to lunch. I shook my head, uh uh, but said, "of course" into the telephone. Anna Lee had a broken hip when I met her and her walking has not improved that much with time. She is diabetic and frail. Harmon has emphysema; he doesn't breath and talk at the same time. His teeth are bad and he can't get his food chewed before his next breath, which is labored. He is nearly blind.

Their daughter comes daily because she understands that Anna Lee and Harmon want to live in the little house for as long as they can. She makes lists, gives medication, and supplies breakfast - all before her work day begins. She leaves a pitcher of tea, icing. On weekends she is barber, hairdresser, handyman, and chauffeur. They take Dial-a-Ride to the doctor. The county nurse visits.

Anna Lee and Harmon couldn't grocery shop even if they had the money. Therefore, they give their food money away. Some goes to neighbors who procure for the couple the Lean Cuisines, and Mac and Cheeses, and frozen biscuits during their own trips to Publix. This helps the couples' daughter immensely,  too. The rest goes to a grandchild so that he can stay in college.

I call Anna Lee and Harmon the old couple up the hill although they are exactly my own age. When I moved into the neighborhood, I began to take them box suppers, my cooking excesses. I do it now, at least once a week, and I am not the only one who knocks on that door with gifts, for body and soul, covered in foil.

Invite me to lunch? No. No. I should fix a plate of salad and deviled eggs and sandwiches, pack the car, and go over there at noon. Making a meal for a guest is way too hard.

You could smell the vegetable soup from the corner. Amazing. Anna Lee and Harmon had shared in a friend's windfall. Said gentleman came into a bushel of veggies from a farming relative enjoying an excess harvest. His wife had cleaned and chopped her friends' portion of the remarkable selection and had thrown in a ham hock. "Nothing to do but to cook it," explained Anna Lee.

This woman, the generous friend, had been told by Harmon that there was someone they wanted to invite to lunch. When she saw the produce, all she could think of was what a beautiful but easy meal for an infirm couple to make.

So it was that I have enjoyed a long and lovely afternoon. Big bowls of fresh Florida vegetables made into soup are delicious served with iced tea and frozen biscuits baked in the toaster oven. For desert we brought out the honey and applied it generously to the leftover Pillsbury Grands.

"Thank you so much." Hugs. Smiles. Harmon, winking.

"We were so glad to have you. It was no trouble at all."

Remind me, when I get to racing around the kitchen in my perfectionist hat, that the best times are the ones when we are somehow, masterfully, provided for - be it food, or good company, or both. It is a great gift, indeed, if we can simply stop and talk, sip our tea, eat our vegetables, and enjoy each others company.